-Alternate Azumanga Daioh story- The Return of a Dear Friend
by Blackops3596
Summary: Rono returns to Japan from America after eight years. When reuniting with his long time friend, Sakaki, both of them hang out just like how they used to do. When someone needs help with love, they help as much as they can. I don't own Azumanga Daioh in any way! All rights go to Kiyohiko Azuma.
1. Prologue

**A child's separation**

My name is Rono Takayama, I used to live in Japan my in my childhood until I was 7. I lived with my Mom and Dad in a 2 story house, it was fairly new so it was good enough to keep us safe along with the gate at the entrance. My Dad was a police officer, he is a very successful officer unlike other officers that barely know when to use the gun and other materials when necessary. My Mom is the nicest in the world to my eyes, she always makes the best food, she also makes sure that we're okay in our daily routine. Back then I didn't have any friends at school,I was always the quiet one in the school. But when I got home from school, I would always go straight to my room and finish my homework. If there was a test the next day then I would ask my parents to help me study. When I finished with that, I would go to the park and play on the playground.

A part of me always told me that there was something missing, something that even I had never thought of having before…it...was.. friendship. I didn't know what having a friend would feel like. I'd never thought of it because I spent most of my time in the alleyway by my house where there were cats. Ah, cats... They were my second favorite things in the world (under my first favorite thing which was playing in the park), I remember at one point that I asked my parents for a cat. But as every child would fear for an answer, was no. They told me that they would give a cat when I was responsible enough. It was going to be a long time until I get a cat for my own. But then an unexpected moment appeared.

My friendship with Sakaki.

She is a girl that I always saw whenever I went to the park. The first time i saw her was in the winter where snow had accumulated on the slides, the swings and everything. I saw her on one of the swings that day. She had long black hair, black eyes, a tall physique, she would always wear a white scarf, a big jacket and the one trait I noticed about her the most is that she seemed to have an expressionless face as if she was mad. We were the same age but unfortunately, she was the tallest than most kids. At first I thought she would be mean enough to hit you if you tried to talk to her, which kind of explains why I mostly saw her by herself on the swings. I felt sorry for her everytime I saw at the park by herself. I felt the need to help, but I was shy and I didn't know how to start a basic conversation. That was when my mom saw me standing looking like I was staring into space. She walked up to me and said this:

"Rono, why don't you try being friends with her, she seems like a nice girl. Why don't you talk her?."

That's when I realized that it was about time to get at least one friend, I was mostly alone on my birthdays and vacations, sometimes my cousins visit too. I finally got the courage to get to know this mysterious girl. I slowly walked up to her and sat on the swings next to her. A few minutes of silence occurred, then I asked:

"So...what's your name?" I asked

Instead she didn't say anything. I assumed that I creeped her out a bit out of no where.

"Ok, I'll start first."

"My name is Rono Takayama, but you can call me Rono. Nice to meet you!" as I said while pulling out my hand from my pocket so I can shake her hand.

At that moment, she finally said something to me:

"My..name is..Sa...kaki." She said

"Sakaki. That's a pretty name!" I said

Suddenly she blushed right when I said that, at the time I didn't get why people blushed.

"Th-thank you" she said

"Would..you like to be my friend? I don't have many, I always see you here everyday by yourself. So..I figured if you wanted to play with me?"

Her eyes widened up and her eyes watered up. My heart started racing and I immediately asked

"Ah! Did I say something bad?!"

She wiped up her tears and then a smiled started to form on her.

"No, I just... never expected to have someone nice to ask me if I wanted to be their friend. But..you're not lying to me, right?"

"No, of course not." Rono said

"Ok, I never had a...friend before." Sakaki said

"Me too, but I know that we'll figure it out later!" Rono said while he rubs the back of his head.

"Wanna play on the swings?"

"Sure." She said

After that, she accepted my friendship and we played on the swings for the rest of the day. We had the best time of our lives, it also lead us to visit each other's houses anytime we wanted. I then learned that if you meet someone, the nicer she gets when you get to know them. That was the only time when I...truly.. felt happy.

After a year, my dad wanted to tell us some "good news". My dad had a big job offer from the police station they also told him that he got promoted to a new rank, but it turns out that the place the job ranked my dad was that he is required to move to the United States of America. I was shocked and surprised when my dad told my mom and I. My dream was to go to America someday when I was old enough to go by myself but it turns out that I would have to leave Japan with my Mom and Dad to America. I knew that I would leave a lot behind from Japan. I realized that I would have to leave my school,my family and the cats from my neighborhood. I went to the park as soon as possible where I always met Sakaki at, I had to tell her the bad news. When I told her, I could see tears forming up in her eyes. It felt as in I was in a nightmare. I was going to lose my one and only friend all because I have to go to America with my parents. Out of no where I broke down in tears, but then Sakaki came up to me and told me:

"Don't worry Rono, someday we'll see each other again." As she forced a smile on her face. She then gave me a hug, it calmed me down a little. We then told eachother our final goodbyes. After that we never saw each other. Never again will I ever get that pure happiness again.

-8 years later-

During the 8 years I've spent living in America, I slowly began to lose my childhood memories. Because of that I forgot what living in Japan felt like, my true home. At first, it was hard for me speaking English during my youthful years. I got used to the life I lived in on America, which I called it my so called "home". When I finally finished elementary and middle school, I was off to Highschool. That's when my parents called me in to have a discussion with them. I wondered if I did something wrong, were they mad at me, are my grades bad? When I got inside the room, they told me something that I never knew they would say to me after all theses years. I thought I was in a dream when they told me that I could go to Highschool in Japan! I decided to go back because I missed home SO much.

Since my dad has been doing an amazing job on his job, he gave me $1000! My parents later converted the US dollars to Yen that way I can spend it on items that I need to get me going. At the day I went to the airport, I gave my goodbyes to them. I saw my mom cry a bit.

"My son is finally becoming a man, hehe!" Rono's dad said

Then I saw my mom hit dad

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Why are you suddenly so happy for Rono? Aren't you upset that he's leaving us?"she said.

"I'm happy on the outside, and sad in the inside. But we DO owe him for dragging him with us all these years. Imagine how Rono felt when he had to leave all those dear to him back from Japan!"

Rono's mom's eyes went wide open and gasped

"The least we can do for him is get him an apartment in Japan and let live there on his own. But you know..we could always visit him someday."

"Really!?" She said

"Yep and besides, if I were to make a prediction. Then I think Rono might hook up with that girl he always hung out with when he was just a kid."

After that Rono's mom hit his dad again trying not face the fact that Rono might get a girlfriend on his way back to Japan.

"Ow! Damn it!"

Now we will see how this will all go for Rono, hopefully he'll get his past back. -Rono's subconscious


	2. First day

**Nostalgia Arc**

First day

Rono's at the park by himself at a dark and gloomy night. He looks around and sees nothing but the swings which is strangely hovered by lights of the park. Suddenly he feels himself getting shorter as he slowly shrinks down to a kid's average height. Out of no where, a mysterious young girl appears behind him as well.

"Why did you do this to me?" She says while she seems to be sobbing

"W-what did I do?" He asked

"IDIOT! Why did you leave me all alone!" She starts crying

He attempts to look at the girl's face but it's so dark that he couldn't even see a glimpse of the strangers face.

"What did I do to deserve this..."

*Rono gasps*

He gets up and finds out he's on his bed with his new apartment in Japan. The alarm starts buzzing while his eyes adjust because of his dark room.

"So it's just a dream, good." Rono thought

He goes to his kitchen to eat breakfast and cooks up his lunch for his bento (he has time to make up his bento because he put his alarm to wake him up 1 hour earlier to go to school since it was his first day after all). Right when he got to the door, an image flashed in his mind, it was that crying girl in his dream.

"Just..who was that girl, has she known me before." He said in his mind. He closes the door, and goes off to school.

Since it has been a long time since he's been to Japan, he barely remembers what he used to do in his childhood. The only thing he does remember is the cat alley and the school he has to attend to which is named Cherry Blossom High. Then, a strange nostalgic feeling suddenly shows up inside his heart. He walked passed a park which had the same swings he had in his dream last night. It was no doubt that he wants to know what really happened during those years he spent here when he was little kid. But first, he has to get over his first day at school first.

"Man, why am I so worried about anyways. Besides, what can go wrong!" As he rubs the back of his head while giving a big smile full of confidence.

He crosses the street along with those other kids who he assumes to be the students for Cherry Blossom High. Then a bicyclist passes by swiftly past him, she was 3 inches away from colliding into him. The woman on the bicycle said:

"Hey! Watch where you're going pal!" She said angrily

It's her who has to be careful. He thought

A few minutes later, he finds her bending down to looking at her bike. Later, a person with black uniform which looks identical to the one Rono is wearing stops by her. Rono decides to watch how this is going. Just when the female bicyclist steals the bike from the boy, he yells out:

"Hey! Give me back my bike!"

"Sorry kid, I have a class to teach!" She says as she waves good bye to the young boy.

"What the hell just happened here." Rono thought as he sighed

He runs up to the boy and asks him of what had happened.

"That woman just abandoned her old bike and stole mine!"the boy said

"Really!?"

"Yep. Well, what do you expect from an irresponsible teacher?" He sighs

Rono began to get doubts about returning to Japan.

"Wait a minute, are you the new exchanged student for Cherry Blossom High?"

"Yeah, how do you know?" He said in a confused state

"Every staff member of the school has been talking about you, the school hasn't had any exchanged students from other countries before."

"Wait, now that I think about it I haven't introduced my self!"

"My name is Tod Fukushima, nice to meet you."

"My name is Rono Takayama."

They both bow to each other and walk to school together.

They arrive at the school and Rono looks around the school with awe.

"Woah, so the school is that big?"

"Yep, during summer break the school decided to make a remodel. They wanted the school too look better than the other schools somehow. Sure the school back then looked very old and torn down back then which could be the reason why there weren't many kids transferring to this school."

"Well, they sure did an amazing job on this! No wonder they called this school Cherry Blossom High, there's so many from where we're walking!" Rono said

"Well enough sightseeing, we have to get to class." Tod says while walking ahead of Rono.

"Wait Tod! What about the schedules?"

"Oh don't worry, you have the same home room class as me! Your name was the only one on the Transfer Students section!"He smiles

"Ok Tod."

After that, they got inside the school and stopped by the lockers to put on their indoor slippers for school. Rono insisted for both of them to look at the poster with schedule of every student. A good 2 minutes is what took them to finally find both of their names. They were both listed for a certain teacher named , Rono had a bad feeling about this. Maybe this teacher could be one of the strict ones in this school.

*Rono gulps*

"Let's get to class, it's almost 8:30." Tod insisted

"Right." Rono says with a frightened look

They both went up stairs to the 3rd floor of the school, Tod starts to breathe heavily. As Rono notices, he drops a sweat.

"You're tired already?" He grins

"Sorry, it's been a while since I had exercise."

"I could tell by your size." He teases

"Shut up." Tod says in an annoyed manner

Finally, they arrived to the classroom. It was now full of students talking to eachother before the teacher arrives. Rono notices someone sitting alone at her desk looking out the window, it was a tall girl with the same height as him. She had long soft black hair which reaches half of her back, she also had beautiful eyes. Tod then noticed him looking at the girl

"Well well, have a crush already?" He grins

"Ugh no! Sure she looks pretty but...somehow she looks...familiar." Rono says while tilting his head to right.

By the time he was looking at her for a minute, the teacher arrived. Everyone but Rono and a little girl stood up by the chalk board. Then the moment of truth happened, it was the same lady who stole Tod's bike! The teacher spoke:

"Hello class my name is and I will be your English home room teacher." As she announces to class. She sees red orange pigtails and she try's pulling it, she then remembers something.

"Oh wait I forgot, the two exchange students."

"Moving right along, let me introduce two of our new transfer students. First is Chiyo Mihama ."

"I'm Chiyo Mihama, thank you for having me in your class." Said the small pig-tailed girl.

"As you can tell, Chiyo is only 10 years old. But because of her unique gift, the school decided to let her go to high school. So none of you better pick on her just because she's better than all of you!"

Everybody's sweat dropped

"Next, is our American-Japanese transfer student Rono Takayama."

"Hello my name is Rono Takayama, it's nice to meet you all." Said the tall guy as he bowed down.

"Ok it's time to begin our assignment for our first day. Today we will be filling out our career forms. You will be required to write down three things that you want be in the future."

"Rono, Chiyo, go and take a seat on any of the remaining desks left."

Chiyo and Rono then walk to their desired seats. Chiyo picks the seat closest to the front of the room. She smiles at Rono before she sat down, he does the same too. Rono however decides to sit on the desk in the back of the room which is next to the right of the girl he was staring. He sat down and then sees Tod giving him an evil grin, Tod had the wrong idea for the reason why Rono sat there in the first place. It wasn't because he wanted to sit next to the pretty girl, it was because of one problem he had his whole life...it was shyness. If he sat in the back, maybe the teacher wouldn't call him up to the board. Sure he gets the answers right everytime, but he starts losing some of his confidence when everyone stares at him. Now that he thinks about it, he starts getting stressed out. Imagining how the kids in his class would treat him.

He imagines:

"Haha, this kid doesn't have the guts to say anything!"

"Why even go back to Japan if you don't even talk much?"

"Go back to America where kids like you should be!"

"Get out."

"Nobody needs you."

"Rono!" he hears an echo

"Rono!" It starts getting louder

"Rono !"

He then snaps out of it and gasps. It was Chiyo who was calling him.

"Oh sorry did I scare you, do you have the career form? I'm collecting them for the class."

"Oh, h-here you go."

"Thanks, are..you okay?"said the curious young girl.

"Y-yeah, I..just need some air."

He quickly gets out of the classroom and goes to the rooftop of the school(at this point it's when the lunch period finally begins). The tall girl who sat next to Rono became curios of what just happened, the same with the little girl as they both watched Rono go.

"I feel I should check on him." Chiyo thought as she made her way to collect the last career form which was tall girl.

"Excuse me, May I please collect your career form?"

The tall girl gives her the form.

"Hmm, so her name is Sakaki. She seems a bit scary. She wants to be a veterinarian, a florist or a stuffed animal boutique owner? Looks like she's a nice person after all!" She thought.

"Hey Chiyo." Asked the tall girl.

"You know what's going on with him?"

"Not a clue, should I check on him?"

"Yeah, let me come too."

As they both made their way to the roof top they met up with him. He was just sitting down on the bench gazing up at the sky.

"If only.. I had friend here before." He thought

"Why was I even shy in the first place, what even caused me to become the person I am."

"I'm just hopeless." He said out loud.

"Hey Rono!" Chiyo said

"Huh? Oh hey Chiyo."

"What happened back there, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I just...panicked out of nowhere."

"How come?" Asked the curious Chiyo

"Well, I'll tell you if you both keep this a secret."

They both nod and decide to safely secure the secret for their ears only.

"Ok, I might not look like it but I easily get nervous when it comes to talking socially with other people. I got stressed by imagining how the teacher will call me up the board and answer a question. Let's just say, that I...have stage fright."

A moment of silence occurred for a few seconds.

"Wait, I don't seem to know your name. Mind if I ask for your name miss?" He asked the tall girl.

"My..name is..Sa...kaki." She said

"Sakaki, huh? That's a nice name!"

The girl then blushed, but then something came up in her mind. She feels something as if she got that response before, but she can't put her finger on it. Same with Rono he has the nostalgic feeling again, the same one from this morning!

"Have...we...meet before?" Sakaki said

"Ugh, I don't think so. Why do you ask?" Says the confused Rono

"Oh, nothing...you..just remind me of someone."

"Hey guys, we should probably go back to class. It's almost time for lunch, we can also introduce Rono to our friends. I'm figuring you don't have many friends do you?"

"Well, not really."

Right after that, they all went down from the stairs right to the third floor of the school. At first it felt scary to go on a school where he doesn't know anybody, but when you get some friends, then you feel yourself getting your confidence back on track. He now feels safe with Chiyo and Sakaki, mostly Sakaki for some strange reason. Everytime he gets near her, it always causes Rono to have this nostalgic feeling in his heart. It's as if it is telling to get his memories back when he was still living in Japan as a kid. Soon before they made it to the Classroom door, Sakaki suddenly stopped in front of Chiyo and Rono.

"Hey, why are we stopping for?" He asks

"Before we go inside, I just want to tell you that...if you ever need help or have any problems, then tell me. Friends help eachother out, that's what friends are for." Sakaki says while looking down.

"You can also ask Yomi and me, but don't tell Osaka and Tomo. Well, especially Tomo." Chiyo says

"Why not?" Rono says

"Ugh, you'll see."

They all got in the classroom and then the lunch bell rang. immediately went to the teachers lounge to start up her meal. Then the kids in the classroom now began eating their food from their bentos, other kids went downstairs to eat at the cafeteria. Rono, Chiyo, and Sakaki went to meet up with Yomi and the others.

"Oh hey, Chiyo." Says the girl with the glasses

"Hi !" She smiles

"Wait a minute, isn't this the new American exchange students?"

"Yes I am, but I'm actually Japanese."

"Really?! I have a question though, are Schools in America different than the school in Japan?"

"Yes they are, but they are similar in some ways."

"You seem to get along with people well enough! Now it's time to introduce them."

"This is Koyomi Mizuhara, but we call her Yomi." She moves walks over to the next girl.

"This is Tomo Takino, she is mostly the highly energetic one of the group!"

"That's right I am!" Tomo says

Chiyo moves on to the girl who seems to be spacing out.

"This is Ayumu Kasuga, but we call her Osaka."

"Why Osaka?"

Chiyo's sweat dropped

"Ugh, Tomo made it up."

"Why would you call her Osaka?"

"Because, she's from Osaka." Said Tomo

A moment of silence occurred.

"Oh, that makes sense."

Everybody's sweat dropped.

After that first long school day, it was finally the moment to go home. The group went out of the school and continued to walk home, they've asked Rono what it was like in America. Until one of them asked him how was his life here in Japan when he was little. This troubled Rono a bit because he doesn't remember any childhood memories.

"Actually, I don't remember anything at all."

*Everyone gasps*

"What! There's no possible way that you can forget your own childhood!" Yomi says

"I've been living in America for so long that I forgot my memories here, except for one thing. That thing was the alley of cats!"

Everyone but Sakaki who blushed sweat dropped.

After a few minutes Tomo, Osaka, and Yomi told eachother good bye as they left to their houses. All that was left were Rono, Chiyo, and Sakaki. They both asked Rono where he lived and it turns out tha they actually live close to eachother!

"Hey, there's my apartment building. Are we going to walk to school together tomorrow morning?"

"Sure, that a great idea!" Said Chiyo

Right when Rono left, Sakaki said something that Chiyo wouldn't expect."

"He's still the same as always, I'm glad." she smiles as she blushes

"What do you mean Miss Sakaki?"

"We were friends back when we were kids."

"Really!? Why didn't you tell him?"

"I think it's better if he figures it out on his own."

"But it hurts me that he doesn't remember me at all." a tear runs down her face.

"He was my one and only friend I had who understands me from the inside."

"Don't worry Miss Sakaki, I'm sure that he'll someday remember you again. As long as we spend much more time with him, then it'll be fast!"

*Sakaki sobs*

"Thank you Chiyo, your a good friend." She smiles

They both continue walking again to go back home.

Rono gets out shower and then dresses up to go to bed. As soon as he lays down, he starts to think about Chiyo and the others. But his thought stopped after he imagines Sakaki.

"That girl... I know her from somewhere. Why does she look so familiar? I really want to know why I keep having this feeling to find out what I did before I moved to America! Well it can't be helped, I'll think about it tomorrow. Thank you Mom and Dad for letting me go back to Japan. Today was a good day!"


	3. Confusion

Confusion

After Rono had his sleep for the night, he kept on dreaming about the dream he had last time. But this time it was different, out of nowhere he was able to control his own dream. He leaned in closer to the girl but he still wasn't able to get at least one glimpse of her face, instead he saw her white scarf and her hair.

The dream ended, it made Rono wake up causing him to breathe heavily. A few minutes have passed, he went to his kitchen to eat breakfast and make his bento. He also remembered that he agreed to meet up with Chiyo and Sakaki somewhere by the the road where they would always walk to school to. Since he woke up about an hour earlier to make his bento and eat his breakfast, he went his room and watched a bit of t.v until it was time to leave. As soon as he turned it on, it showed a commercial with two kids playing with eachother at the park.

"Something tells me that this commercial could be somewhat similar to my past." He said after experiencing goosebumps.

"Maybe during the weekend I'll try to find out what happened back then"

He looks at his clock and finds out that it was finally time to leave.

"Looks like it time to meet with Sakaki and Chiyo!"

He opens the door and closes it as he goes outside with an excited look on her face.

"Wonder how the day will turn out, I bet it's going to be good!"

A minute had passed and he finally saw Chiyo and Sakaki walking together by the walkway.

"Hey Chiyo!"

"Huh? Hey look it's Rono!" As she pointed towards the direction Rono was running from. As soon as he slowly approaches them, he saw a white cat. Without hesitation he instead ran to it and tried petting it.

"Miss Sakaki, what is he doing?" She tries to face Sakaki but before she knew it, she was gone!

"Ah!" She looks around and finds her where Rono was at.

They were both standing next to eachother looking at the cat with silky white fur. Sakaki blushed when she realized she was beside him(Mainly blushed because of the cat). This gave her a flashback from the past.

*Flashback*

It was a hot and sunny day in Japan, the only time where it was a perfect day to go to the pool, a perfect time where you can spend your time with your family, last but not least it was the perfect time to able to hang out with your friends. Sakaki and Rono were off to go play in the park as always, but something small yet cute blocked their way. It was a cat with white fur along with brown spots, of course it was obvious that it was a female.

"What is it?" Said the young girl

"Hey, it's a cat!" He says with a smile

"I love cats, there so cute!"

"Doesn't look like it wants to be woken up, maybe it'll attack us if we wake it up." She says while hiding behind Rono.

"Don't worry, it won't attack. As long as we don't hurt it, it won't hurt us!"

"Ok, I'll trust you for this time."

As soon as the wind blows, the cat silently woke up and slowly walks toward them. Sakaki shrieked and quickly hid behind Rono's back.

"Yay! It woke up, let's go pet it!" His fist pumps in the air

"No, don't!" Begging Rono as she pulled his shirt.

Rono ignored her and as a surprise, he made the cat purr as he slowly scratches behind the cat's ear. Sakaki was surprised on how the cat went from scary to cute.

"Sakaki, why don't you pet him too?" he asks his now surprised friend.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, trust me you'll like it!"

She slowly walks toward the cat and kneels down close to the cat. She then slowly put her hand out, the cat then stares at her which causes Sakaki to take her hand back in.

"Come on, it won't bite." he insists for her to pet the cat.

She does it again and she puts her hand on the cat's head and starts to scratch behind the cat's ear. She began blushing profusely as it began to purr, Rono chuckled as it continued purring.

"Nice job, we made a friend." he said

"Yeah, I guess we did Rono." she smiles while still petting the cat which Rono was still holding.

"Should we name it?"

"Sure, I think we should call him...Neko-san." Rono insisted.

"Yeah, that's a cute name." She smiles as she looked at the cat.

To Sakaki, this was one of her most precious yet memorable moments of her life. It was also the first time when she actually started having her liking for cats and other animals in the first place. Without Rono, she would of never got her love for animals.

*Flashback ends*

When Sakaki was done day dreaming, Rono was already carrying the cat in his arms. Sakaki blushed at this sight, this really did remind her that Rono really hasn't changed except for his height which this time he was an inch taller.

"I'm guessing that you like cats too, don't you?" He asked

"Y-yeah."

"You want to pet it?"

"O-okay."

As she putts her hand closer to the cat, it looks at her strangely and then as she touches its head it starts to purr. Of course, this caused her to blush. Chiyo then ran up to both of them breathing heavily.

"Guys. We...should start heading back now." she said breathing profusely.

"Oh yeah, I forgot we had school!" he said.

Everybody's sweat dropped. Rono then slowly puts the cat down and goes off to school with Chiyo and Sakaki. Their second day of school begins!

As they started walking closer to the school, they got through the cherry blossom trees. It was a fairly windy day for them, which makes it a perfect moment for the trees to release their pink pedals as they hover through the air carried by the wind. This, truly creates a scenic view from afar.

Now they made it to the school, they all got inside then stopped by the lockers to put on their Uwabakis(indoor shoes). As they closed up their lockers with their outside shoes, they started making their way to class. They made it to the class and then saw Yomi, Tomo, and Osaka talking to eachother. They joined in the conversation that was about Tomo bragging on how she'll look good in the p.e uniform which would cause the boys to get attracted to her.

But the one thing they never knew is how short were the girl's shorts from school. Right before Yomi was about to scold Tomo, the bell rang.

*Bell rings*

Everyone sat down, and waited for the teacher to come in. Unfortunately she was late...again.

"Hey Sakaki!" Rono whispers

"Where's Yukari?"

"She probably late." She says in her calming cool voice.

"I'm not surprised."

"So about yesterday, we didn't go to any of classes except English. Do we start the full schedule today?"

"Yeah, hopefully it'll turn out alright."

Yukari gets in the classroom a few minutes and explains why she was late.

"I am very sorry for the inconvenience, I forgot that this wasn't the weekend!"

Everyone's sweatdropped.

"What's with this teacher." He thought

"Alright class, today we will be reading our first English book for the year to eachother. And by "eachother" I mean go get a partner to read with, each of you will read a paragraph and the other will do the same for the other. This book is some basic stuff that most of you already know." Yukari proclaimed.

"But Miss Yukari!" Chiyo exclaims

"Why won't you read the book to us?"

She thought of an excuse so she can cover her laziness.

"Well...because, my head hurts from last night and I can't think straight. So the only way for curing it is to go to sleep." She slowly puts her head so she could sleep soundly.

"She's just lazy, isn't she?" Yomi said

"Yep, she sure is." Rono said

"Hey! How come she gets to sleep and I can't!" Tomo exclaimed to them.

"Probably because WE'RE AT SCHOOL!" Yomi yelled.

Soon after Yomi and Tomo started fighting, Rono remembers that he needs a partner to read with but the question is, who? Then a girl tapped his shoulder and it turns out it was Sakaki. She wanted to ask Rono a question and she was blushing too.

"Oh it's you Sakaki. What's up?"

"Would you...want to be ...my partner?" She asks

"Yes."

Just a minute there, Rono didn't even think about for even a second. The words just came out of his mouth, it's as if something was controlling him. Before he knew it, he felt something. Something mysterious that always came up in his dreams, it was the past. Although he couldn't remember by mind, but the heart remembers it all. He then shrugged it off, if he hadn't accepted her offer, he would've never got a partner. They both got to their seats and turned them to face eachother in front. Sakaki blushed a bit after she had her first glance at Rono's brown eyes.

"Still have that sparkle in your eyes, don't you?" She thought as she smiled.

"Should I begin Miss Sakaki." He says playfully

She giggles and then they both start to read paragraph by paragraph. Before they knew it, the bell rang for the next class. Which was 's class, this will be a teacher that no one expected him to be. He gets in class and immediately writes his name on the chalkboard. He turns around and suddenly gave Rono the chills up his spine. Kimura's face seemed out of place with his mouth open, his glasses caught reflected the light from the window.

"Who the hell is he? Why does he look so...hostile and somewhat creepy. Maybe because of his opened mouth, maybe that'll make him less creepy." He imagines the teacher with his mouth closed and he still finds him creepy.

"Dang it, he still looks the same." He looks to see right into Kimura's eyes.

"He looks like he has the eyes of a peculiar trait, hmm...maybe he's a pervert? Nah I highly doubt it, maybe it's my imagination. He could be a nice and cool guy on the inside!"

When class starts to progress slowly, he soon started to talk about...well "forks". What he actually meant is about the many paths in life. All of it went fine until Tomo asked the wrong and regrettable question to Kimura.

"Mr. Kimura! Why did you decide to become a Highschool teacher?"

"Because I like Highschool girls that's why!" He answered loudly.

A moment of silence occurred. Little did Kimura knew, he lost all trust from his students.

"Oh my god, I knew it. He was a pervert!" Rono thought

The bell rang, all the students got up and went out the door to the next class which was P.e. All the girls except Chiyo walked faster than the boys. Chiyo didn't know why the girls were so afraid of Kimura, she thought that he meant that he liked Highschool girls as in a good way instead of a perverted way. Rono came out last and found the girls walking to the P.e locker rooms.

"Hey guys, where's the boys locker room?" Rono questioned.

"Oh, that's on the other side of the building." Yomi said.

"Really...I came all the way here for nothing."

"What did you expect? Although, maybe the real reason why you came here is to take a peek at the girls in here." Tomo said with an evil grin on her face.

"What do you mean by take a peek?" It took a moment for Rono to process this in his head, then it hit him.

"GAH! No, Im not that perverted!" he says while blushing.

"Oh, so you ARE a pervert."

"No, that's not what I mean..er... I think I should go now." He leaves to the boy's locker room as he slouches a bit to the floor.

"I think I'm starting to find out why Yomi despises Tomo so much now." He sighs

He enters the locker room, just as he got inside he saw Tod by Rono's new locker.

"Hey Rono, it's been a while!"

"No it hasn't, we didn't talk for one day."

"Well yeah, it's all because you were hanging out with those girls."

Tod gets close to Rono's right ear and whispers:

"I heard that you tried to peek in the girls locker room."

"What! No I wasn't, wait a minute. How did you know about that so quickly?"

"Some dude told everyone in here, but I gotta admit it takes guts to try to peek in there. Congratulations, every one now knows you better!"

"Grr, shut up!"

Right after Rono punched Tod on his arm, they were now ready to go to their first P.e class! When they arrived, they noticed the guys staring at something. They weren't staring at anything amazing, they were just looking at the girls in their P.e shorts that were as short as bloomers. Apparently someone had a nosebleed so bad that he had to go to the nurse's office.

"Oh my, this is like heaven."

"What's so amazing about that?"

Every guy including Tod looked at him with confused faces.

"What?" Rono said

Then the P.e teacher arrived, every one has split up into two groups, one for the boys, one for the girls.

"Hello class, my name is . From now on, I will be your P.e teacher! Today we are going to test eachother on our physical test. First off, you all need a partner. The reason is because you two have to time eachother on how fast you can sprint on a 50-meter track. Now then, who's first?"

"Hey Chiyo, care to be my partner?"

Rono decided to be Chiyo's partner, while Osaka asked Sakaki to be her partner. It was odd of Osaka to be able ask someone to be her partner for the others. Yomi on the other hand became partners with Tomo. Tomo was somehow begging Yomi to be her partner. Tod noticed a girl with short hair going down to the level of her chin,it was Kaorin. He had the urge to be her partner out of no choice. He then came up to her and asked her.

"H-hello, would..you...like to be..my part..ner?" Tod had no idea why he had trouble making out those words.

Kaorin was surprised from this question, no boy had asked her to be their partner before! She had no choice but to accept.

"S-sure."

"My name is Tod, nice to meet you" he bowed.

"Mine is Kaorin, nice to meet you too. She bows too.

First up were Rono vs. Sakaki. Kurosawa raises her hand as she says:

"Ready, set."

She quickly puts her hand down then says:

"Go!"

They both start sprinting with astounding speed. Rono was so focused on his sprinting that he didn't noticed that Sakaki was right beside him! As they both got closer to the finish line, some of the girls were cheering for Sakaki, and some of the guys were cheering for Rono. When they got to the finished line, Chiyo and Osaka stopped the timers and then Chiyo gasped as she compared the time of Rono and Sakaki. Their times were both 3.01 seconds!

"Oh my gosh, they both tied and got the same time too!"

"Is that good?" Osaka questioned Chiyo

"Of course! It's really good!"

Rono and Sakaki both came up to their partners and asked them who won.

"So Chiyo, who had the fastest time?" Rono said

"Both of you!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" He had a confused face just like Sakaki's.

This showed Chiyo the resemblance of Rono and Sakaki when they were childhood friends.

"You both had the same time!

"Wow really?!"

"Yeah! Apparently, you both were tied to eachother when you got to the finish line!"

"Wow, I never thought that I'd improved all this time."

This gave Sakaki a short flashback.

*Flashback*

(Sakaki's point of view)

"Hurry Rono! The fireworks are about to start!"

"Sakaki! Can you slow down a bit, I getting tired!

At this time, I remember when Rono and I always went to the school festivals. We would go to the school and watch the fireworks. As always, Rono was always the one running behind me whenever I was running in a hurry. I would wait for him to catch his breath and run again. When he ran behind me, I would always look back at him to see if he was still there. I wouldn't leave my friend alone, we were always in this together. The thing I noticed is whenever he began breathing heavily, he looked kind of cute to be honest.

When we finally made it to our main location, we would sit down, put a blanket on the floor and wait patiently for the fireworks. One of my happiest and embarrassing times. I remember this embarrassing moment when we were looking at the fireworks.

Somehow, I accidentally put my hand on top of Rono's. He looked at me and smiled, that's when he decided to hold my hand, I was stunned at this for a second but then I shrugged it off. I always felt warm inside when ever I was with him.

Now that he improved today, it's like he starting to change since the last time I saw him. The horrible thing is that he doesn't remember me, I felt heartbroken when I first found out. I will make sure, that Rono gets his memories back again!

*Flashback ends*

"Alright Chiyo, now it's just you and Osaka! Good luck!" Rono said.

"I'll give it my all!" She pumps her fist in the air.

Chiyo and Osaka then go to the starting line. They both get on their starting poses before Kurosawa says go.

"Ready, set, Go!"

The two kids start dashing through the track, surprisingly Chiyo was taking the lead. Osaka on the other hand was struggling at first but then she got focused right away and continued on. In the end, Chiyo took first place.

"I can't believe Osaka lost to a 10-year old." Tomo sighs.

"I know right." Yomi sighs too.

Osaka and Chiyo go up to their partners to ask what was their fastest time.

"Osaka, yours was 13 seconds. Good job." Sakaki says as she tries to make her feel happy.

"Thanks Miss Sakaki!" Osaka said in a cheerful way

"Chiyo, yours is..8.57 seconds. Great job Chiyo! You were even faster than I was back when I was little." Rono said

As Sakaki and Chiyo heard this, their eyes both widened.

"Rono, what do you mean by that? Do you remember your childhood memories again?" Said the curios pigtailed girl.

"Huh? Somehow, that's all I remember for now. Strange, how come just now I started to remember that?"

A moment of silence occurred as Sakaki and Chiyo both stared at Rono thinking. All but Osaka were staring, she was off in her own world.

"Well, never mind that. I'm sure I'll remember someday, if that even happens." He sighs.

Next team was Kaorin and Tod against Yomi and Tomo. The first people who came up to versus eachother were Yomi vs. Tod. The two walk over to to the starting line and shook each others hands.

"Just to make you be sure, this isn't anything serious. Let's try our best!" He smiled.

"Same to you."

"Ok! Ready, set, Go!

The two start sprinting halfway, then they start jogging. Yomi started getting closer to the finish line, it was a close win for her until Tod started sprinting again. When they both made it on the finish line, they once again shook hands with eachother and received the stop watches from their partners. Yomi's time was 5.37 seconds while Tod's was 5.10 seconds. Tomo came over to the starting line as Kaorin stood by Tod in a frozen state.

Tod had the feeling that Kaorin was nervous, he felt the need to help. And so he did, he came face to face with Kaorin and said:

"Kaorin, I know that you're nervous about this. As you can see, I'm not really athletic. If I can do it, then you can too. I know you can!"

Kaorin felt better to these kind words.

"Thank you Tod, you really do know how to make a girl feel better."

"Uh, you're welcome." Tod blushed at this.

Tomo and Kaorin went to the finish line and turned to their starting poses as well.

"Ready, set, Go!" Kurosawa said

Tomo started first as for Kaorin, she started second of course. She ran as fast as she could but she was no where near to Tomo. She was soon about to give up but then she saw Tod by the side of the track.

He said "Come on Kaorin, you can do it. Your almost there, I know you can do it!"

She smiled and ran faster, the thing she'd noticed is that Tomo began to slow down. All of her energy was starting to fade away. In matter of seconds, Kaorin caught up to her and finally crossed the finished line. At the end she saw Tod at then end of the finish line.

"You did it!" He said as Kaorin ran to him as she gave a him a big hug, he span Kaorin around in his shoulders. They finally noticed what they were doing, this caused them to blush and separate.

"Uh, good job."

"Thanks." She giggled a bit.

After a long day of school the, Azu-group got out of school and walked home with eachother.

They were walking close to a park, this caught Rono's attention. He stopped in place and took a long look at the park. If someone stopped everyone stopped, they all look over at Rono just as they saw him by a a couple of swings. He touched one of the swings and he immediately gets his mind flooded with images. These images was him in his younger days. The last image to appear in his mind, was a girl with Raven-black hair along with a white scarf around her neck. This troubled Rono for a bit, he snaps back to reality when Yomi yells his name.

"Rono!"

*He gasps*

As he turned around to Yomi's direction, the group noticed something.

"Rono, are..you crying?"

"What?" He reached for his eyes and without notice, he crying uncontrollably without making a sound.

"Haha! He's crying like a baby!" Tomo exclaimed as she gets punched by Yomi.

Yomi got close to him face to face and asked him:

"Hey, are you okay?" She smiled

He looked at everyone who were now staring at him with confusion.

"Y-yeah...I'm okay."

As they continued on with their conversation they had before, Rono began to think what caused him to cry uncontrollably. Thus, he had no luck on finding out so he listened to the group. For the rest of the walk, he didn't say anything at all. Two of the reasons was that he wasn't a conversationalist and still stunned from the incident. After a few moments, the girls had to split up so they could go home. All who's left were Chiyo, Sakaki and Rono.

"So..Rono what happened back there?" Sakaki questioned.

"Oh that, I don't actually know to be honest."

"All I did was touch the swings and something happened."

"Like what?"

"Well for example, when I touched one of the swings a handful of images began flashing in my head!"

"What were the images of?" Chiyo asked

"Well..I can't really make it out that good but all I know is that last image I saw. It was a picture of this little girl with a white scarf. I couldn't make out her face because it was covered with darkness." Suddenly his head started hurting.

"Gah!"

* **They both gasped as he screamed***

"Rono!" They both said

He fell down on his knees and started grabbing his head because of the unbearable pain. Both of the girls went towards him to help, but before they did Rono looked up at the sky. All they could notice different of him was his cold and lifeless eyes.


	4. Slumber

Slumber

"Ow, w-where am I? What is this place?"

The place where he is was nothing but a dark and gloomy part of the city. It was ominous, lonely, and quiet. Nobody seemed to be around at all until he walked around to find someone at least. He later found a park, strangely it was all bright and filled with color. However, everything but the park was all black and white.

"W-what's happening here! Where is everyone?" Yomi, Chiyo, Tomo, Osaka, Sakaki!"

Tears began to develop in his eyes as he kept looking around.

"Did I lose them? Why does this have to happen again!"

"Wait a minute, this never happened to me before, why did I just say that?"

He takes a look on the brightly colored park.

"Could it be that...this park...could be related to my past? No it can't be, there's no way that I had a friend when I was a kid."

Just as Rono said that, he saw someone. It was a kid with pigtails, he knew very well that it was Chiyo Mihama.

"Hey Chiyo!"

"Go away." She said without hesitation

"What?"

"I said to get away from me and the others. You don't belong with us or belong in Japan in any way Rono."

"B-but why."

"Because you left your one and only friend Rono." Said a mysterious voice.

It was some kind of creature that had triangle and cat like ears on his head. He was oval shaped with long arms and short legs. He looks like a cat now that he stares at him some more.

"Who are you, and what friend!"

" I am Chiyo's father and second, I can not answer that for you. That is something, you must find out yourself."

"Hey! Wait! Come back here! I still have many questions I have to ask you!"

"I'll be on my way back. But what I told you is true. You're an interesting boy Rono, we should meet again sometime in the future. Now, it is time for you to wake up!"

"Wake up." It starts to echo

"Wake up." It starts getting louder.

"Wake up!"

* **Rono gasps** *

He immediately wakes up heavily breathing. He starts to calm down in a matter of seconds while he sweats profusely. Then he starts looking around him and finds himself in his room. In his discovery, bandages were tied around his head.

"Why do I have bandages?"

"Good, it was all a dream."

He walks up to his window and opens up the window. To his surprise, it was still nighttime.

"What the hell, what time is it?" He runs up to his alarm clock and finds out that it is 8:37 pm.

"What happened?"

He gets a flashback of the incident that occurred before he collapsed.

"So that means I fainted on the middle of sidewalk! But how did I get here in the first place?"

He suddenly hears something in his kitchen and smells something delicious. He slowly opens up his door and goes right to the kitchen and finds two people there.

"Chiyo, Sakaki."

"Rono!" They both said

They both ran up to him and out of nowhere, Sakaki hugs Rono.

"We're so glad that your okay!" Sakaki says.

"W-what happened here all of a sudden?"

"Right now that doesn't matter, we'll both tell you as soon as you eat up."

"Alright, that I'll do."

After a few minutes of explaining everything that happened to Rono these past hours, he felt very surprised how this had happened. He never collapsed that sudden in his life, not even in the heat! Never again will he go alone anywhere, he was afraid of this happening again. That's when the questions started rolling in during the explanation.

"How do you guys know where I live?"

"Oh that, we looked inside your wallet to see your ID to find the home address. We had no choice, we had to take you home to your bed." Chiyo said

"So you're saying that both of you carried me to my house, and into my bed!"

"Pretty much." Sakaki said

"Wow, thank you so much! I am dearly sorry for all of this Chiyo and Sakaki. I don't know how I'll repay you for all of this."

"Don't worry about it, it's what friends do after all!" Chiyo said with a cheerful face.

This is the first time someone's ever taken care of me besides my parents. He thought.

"Oh and we're also staying over tonight." Chiyo said out of the blue.

"Yeah that's goo- WHAT!"

"Since your condition right now is unknown, we have to stay over to see if anything bad comes up while in your sleep."

"B-but, what about both of your parents?"

"Don't worry about that, we asked them first of course."

"Okay but, why don't I go to the hospital instead?"

"No can do, there doesn't seem to be any serious injuries as of now!"

"Well, I guess you're right." He slouches down towards the floor.

"But who's sleeping where? I only have one futon for one person. I could sleep on the couch or one of you can sleep in my bed."

"That's going to be a problem." Sakaki said in her soothing voice.

"Well it's either that or one of you will have to sleep beside me."

"That'll do." Sakaki said

"WHAT! I was only kidding!"

"Too late for that, we can't let you have a cold."

They all go to Rono's room while Rono gets out the spare futon and the girls set up their stuff for tomorrow.

"I'm figuring that Chiyo will be sleeping with me isn't she?"

"No, Sakaki said she would. She says that a child needs a full time rest."

Rono surprised at this answer, he blushes as he thinks about it.

"Ok. I'll take a shower first, besides I am the sick one right?"

They both sigh.

"Yes you are." Chiyo and Sakaki's sweat drops at the statement.

Later he takes a long and relaxing shower. As he gets out fully clothed in his pajamas, Chiyo and Sakaki then get inside the shower room to take a warm and relaxing bath.

"Miss Sakaki, why do you want to sleep in the same bed with Rono? I could of slept beside him."

"You need a good night's rest, he also tosses and turns during his sleep."

"How do you know?"

"Chiyo, back when we were kids, we used to have sleepovers at each other's houses."

"Wow really? What did you both do?"

"We would always play with each other outside the house and sometimes watch tv with each other too. At times, we would also study for the next test whenever it was necessary. It was the only way to get to know each other better."

"One time when it was my turn to sleep over at his house, I forgot my futon. He then asked me to sleep with him." Sakaki blushes before she says her next line.

"He was so generous to let me sleep at a warm bed with him. That's when I found out that he tossed and turned in his sleep."

"He turned over at my direction and out of nowhere, moved his arms around me and hugged me in his slumber."

* **Flashback***

Young Sakaki's parents drop her off by Rono's house to sleepover. She feels if she is missing something, she knows that she already has her stuff like her pajamas, her toothbrush and her stuffed animal. Someone opened the door as she began looking through her stuff, it was Rono's mom who is named Aiya Matsumura. Although she didn't have Takayama as her last name, she suggested to her husband to call Rono as a Takayama.

"Hello there Sakaki!" She smiled to her

"Hello, how are you today?"

"I'm doing fine sweet little girl! Are you ready to sleep over?"

"Yes!"

As they both enter the house, Aiya called Rono to come down.

"Rono! Sakaki is here!"

"Coming!"

Before Rono began running down stairs, Sakaki immediately noticed that his dad was nowhere to be found. Every time when she visits, she finds him in the living room watching tv with his snacks.

" Where's ?"

"Oh he's at work, it's his turn for his nightshift. He'll come back some time between 12am."

"Now that I think about it, Rono was upset when he found out that he was working late this time. I think Rono's better now, because you came to see him. You should be happy for him."

Sakaki blushed at this statement, she'd never thought she would ever help him feel better. All those times they've spent eachother at the park usually ended with injuries. They both got hurt at times, whenever Rono got injured he would get up like it was nothing. Sakaki however, she would usually cry a bit if it hurts that much to her. Rono would come up to her and calm her down. Of course, he managed to do that too.

Rono finally got down the stairs to the hallway where Aiya and Sakaki were.

"Hi Sakaki! It's been a while since the last time we slept over!"

"Yeah it has."

They both run upstairs to Rono's room.

"Be careful up there, don't stay up too late!"

"Okay!"

They enter the room and walk over to his bookshelf with all the literature books and manga. First thing they took out was a manga.

"Sakaki did you get the latest issue of this manga!"

"No, I didn't have time to go to the store with my mom."

"Too bad, good thing I have it with me that way we'll both catchy up!"

After a few minutes it was decided that it was finally time to go to sleep. But first thing they would have to do was to take a shower. Aiya told Sakaki if she wanted to take a shower with her, she gladly agreed. When it was almost over for both Aiya and Sakaki it was time to wash their backs.

"Sakaki you want me to wash your back?"

"Yes please."

She began scrubbing her back, after a few scrubs she asked Rono a question.

"Hey Sakaki."

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to say, thank you for spending time with my son these past two years. You really saved my son's social life, with out you who knows where he would be."

"Your welcome, I-I'm glad to be with him. It was about time I needed a friend too."

"One thing I have to tell you before we go to sleep, if you love someone very much, don't give up on telling them your feelings to them. Someday they'll return you the favor. Never give up Sakaki, never. That's how my husband and I got together!"

"I'll try."

"Love is a beautiful thing, it can be confusing at first but soon you'll figure it out to understand!"

When they both got out, they went to the closet to change in their pajamas to go to sleep with. Sakaki was first to get out of the closet and ran into Rono's room. As soon as she got inside, she remembered something. She forgot her spare futon!

"Oh no I forgot my spare futon!"

"Aw, so this means you can't stay over?"

"I guess so."

Rono began to think for a minute. Suddenly he got his idea.

"Why not sleep with me!" He exclaimed

Sakaki blushed for a minute there.

"W-what!"

"Why not? We can share the bed, I sleep on one side, you sleep on the other! It's the perfect idea!"

"O-ok." She blushed a little realizing she'd never been close to someone during her sleeping hours.

They both ate their bedtime snack and soon went on Rono's bed to finally go to sleep. Sakaki told him that she had to go to the bathroom to wash her face. So then she did just that, when she got out of the bathroom Rono was fast asleep. This made it easier for her to sleep more comfortable now that he's asleep. She got up to the bed and cuddled up in the soft and cozy blankets that was big enough for two people to use and laid down next to him. She barely even sleep that fast since there was a guy next to her.

After a few minutes of silence, Rono suddenly turned over to Sakaki and then put his arms around her. Sakaki was surprised of this, she'd never got a hug from anyone else but her relatives. On the inside she felt even warmer when his arms were around her. Because of that, it helped her sleep a lot better now that someone is protecting in her sleep. The warmth inside her caused her to hug Rono back in her sleep.

* **Flashback ends** *

"Those were good memories." She sighed.

"I see, if only he remembered you by sight. Then everything would of turned out alright!"

They both finish cleaning themselves up then dry up with the towels, walk outside to the closet with their towels covering the whole body, quickly put on their pajamas and make their way to Rono's room. Sakaki remembers one thing that her mother told her before she decided to take care of Rono.

"Sakaki if you ever take a bath in a boy's house, make sure to always look at the door. There could be a slight chance that someone may be taking a peek on you." This caused Sakaki to blush.

"Sorry to embarrass you, but it's true. I know that you feel heartbroken that he doesn't remember you at all since the last time you saw him. After all, boys do grow up and soon change during their years. I want you to be very careful when you get there. Alright!"

"Ok."

Sakaki was obviously looking at the door back when she took a bath. There was no sign of the door opening at the time. Not even small creak was heard too. Curiosity filled Sakaki's mind, she and Chiyo need to find out what Rono is doing.

"I wonder what is doing?"

They both slowly climb up the stairs, slowly tiptoed to the door and then turned the doorknob as quiet as possible. Slowly the door opened, to their surprise, Rono was in a deep sleep. They both sighed in relief, two of them were relieved that he was fine, as for the other was because he wasn't peeking the whole time.

"Looks like he had got a rough day today."

"Isn't it about time we sleep too?" Chiyo asked

"Right."

Chiyo sat down on the spare futon and laid down under as she tucked herself in. Sakaki got in the with Rono, before she went in, she blushed at the idea.

Don't worry, I've done this before! She thought to herself.

She cuddled up under the sheets and slowly closed her eyes. A few minutes have passed and she still wasn't asleep. Chiyo of course was knocked out in 3 minutes. She is a 10 year old child after all. Somehow Sakaki had trouble sleeping, it wasn't the fact that only lovers would do this kind of thing(unless if it were a sibling), but the idea that Rono forgot everything from Japan.

"Oh Rono why did you have to forget me. If you don't remember those memories again then what would your relatives in Japan would think? What I can tell you is that... I will always be by your side." She looked at Rono's sleeping face when before her eyes start to get watery.

All of a sudden, Rono turned over to Sakaki's side and quickly put his arms around her. She was surprised by this, she finally had the warm feeling. It's been so long since she had this, all of this caused her to slowly close her eyes. She was finally able to sleep soundly as she slept with a smile on her face.

The next day.

Sakaki and Chiyo woke up, the room was still dark because of the curtains covering the windows. Chiyo got up and stretched her arms up way up high. Sakaki slowly woke up, but before she got up from the bed. She didn't open her eyes, she moved her arms around Rono's side, she soon found that Rono wasn't there. She opened her eyes up and looked around the room.

"Where is he?"

"No idea, I barely woke up."

Both of them got up to out in the unformed for school. Sakaki prepared Chiyo's pigtails as Chiyo looks herself at the mirror. When finished, they opened the door and discovered something new. It was a mysterious aroma, a stomach growling mysterious aroma. Rono was cooking something up for breakfast they assumed. Both ran downstairs to see what he was just cooking up. He heard them coming and looked over behind him.

"Oh hey guys! Hungry?"

"Yes please!" Chiyo said in her high pitched voice.

Rono had set up the food on the plates and placed it in front of them. Sakaki and Chiyo looked at the food strangely, this sight was an odd one. All they could recognize was the scrambled egg, but what they didn't recognize were three sides of on the plate. One looked like white-ish shredded cheese, the other had 3 slices of thin meat, and finally the last looked like a flat cake with with butter on it.

"What's this?"

"What do you mean? Haven't you ate this before?"

"No." They bother answered at the same time.

"Oh wow how dumb of me, this isn't America!" Chiyo and Sakaki's sweat dropped, it was so obvious.

"Ok let me introduce you both the meal for breakfast today! This right here is called hash browns, it's basically shredded potato. I recommend eating it with ketchup if you want it to taste good. Next up, is the bacon. This comes from pig's grease, it may sound gross but it's actually good if you try it. Don't eat to much of it or something might happen."

"Like what?" Asked the curios young girl.

"Well, it's better if you don't know. Ok last but not least, is the pancake. This is thin layer of batter mixed with eggs, milk and flour! It taste very good, especially in the morning! But if you want the best experience, try it with syrup!"

Both of them got convinced by his word, they were both hungry anyways so they dug in. Both tried the hash browns first with ketchup.

"Mm! This is good!" Chiyo said with her mouth full.

"Delicious." Sakaki said

Next is to try out the bacon, both picked up the strip of bacon and took a bite.

"Mm! This is even better! I love the crispy texture!"

"Not bad!" Sakaki said

"Chiyo don't speak with your mouth full!"

"Ok."

Last but not least were the pancakes, they both cut out a slice of it with the syrup on top and slowly put it in their mouths to taste it. Chiyo felt as if she were in heaven when eating it, her face was full of pleasure.

"Amazing!" They both said.

"Damn it, how can Chiyo become that cute!"

"Thank you for the food!" They all said

As they all ate the American breakfast together, they discussed what they were going to do that today. When they finished they got to the door and before they left to school, Sakaki and Chiyo told him something.

"Thank you Rono for making us breakfast, it was really delicious!" Chiyo said.

"Thank you Rono." Sakaki said in her cool and soothing voice.

"Oh don't worry, it's the least I can do to repay you two. Again, thank you for everything last night!"

They all walked towards the street to go to the high school. Another exciting day is waiting for all of them.

All of them made it to school without stopping, unfortunately the cat that lived in the alleyway wasn't there. Soon Sakaki, Chiyo and Rono climbed upstairs to the homeroom. When they entered everybody stared at one of them. It was Rono who they were staring at. He was still wearing the bandages he had on back at home. He'd forgotten that he still had it on. Taking it off was no problem, but he had to roll it off his his at least two times. It was usually at least one time people had to take it off if it wasn't that bad of an injury. He took it off and a huge surprise startled him. The inside of the bandages had cold, dried up blood on it. His eyes widened on how much blood there was on the bandages. In everyone's surprised eyes, they could still see the dried up blood on Rono's forehead. Even some fresh blood oozing out a bit from the minor cut.

"Sakaki...Chiyo... I'll be back." He said in a shaking voice.

He leaves the room to go to the bathroom to wash his face. He looks in the mirror and checks on the now slightly healed cut he had.

"Did I really fell that hard back there?"

He made his way to the nurse's office to check if he needed any medications. She did have to put some rubbing alcohol on his cut, obviously he flinched when she applied it on the forehead. What had to be done next was to another bandage around his head again. Out of nowhere, he had the thought of something that scared him. If Sakaki and Chiyo wasn't there with him, he would of been lying on the street still.

He bows down to thank the nurse for the treatment before he left the room. 20 minutes have passed since he left the classroom. He wasn't expecting anyone to worry about him in the first place. As he got closer to the classroom. A voice whispers in his head.

Don't you think like that. Said the mysterious voice

"What the? Who's that?"

"That voice... It sounds like me."

He shrugged it off and moved on to get to his destination. As soon as he opened the door, the students were all collaborating with eachother on some kind of worksheet for English. He looked around to find the others. When he found the Azu-girls he immediately noticed someone was missing. Rono looked at the other direction just as he found Sakaki dashing towards him.

"Rono!"

She hugs him as she got close to him. A very tight hug that prevented Rono from escaping. It took a while for them to part from eachother. She looks around Rono's face and body to see if anything bad happened to him when he left. Only difference she found of him was the new bandage.

"Are you alright Rono? Anything happened in there?" She said as she continued to inspect Rono's head.

"Yes Sakaki, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me too much."

He walks up to to ask her what they were doing for today.

"Oh so the slacker finally shows up!" She grins.

"Huh, I wasn't slacking!"

"Ah calm down I'm only kidding. Right now we are working on English Literature. Go get a partner, the only person left is Tod right there." She points at Tod.

Rono goes over to Tod to sit on the desk beside him.

"Hey Tod, I'm your partner for today."

"Oh really, Alright. By any chance do you know what this passage means? I get everything else, but this part makes no sense."

"Ok, let me see. What book are we reading?"

The book was called Tales of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Back in America, this was one of the last books he had to read for middle school. He ended up having to read the whole book in a matter of weeks. Having no friends at the time was lonely, so he had no choice but to read it anyways. Remembering what every line meant was no problem for him.

The passage Tod was talking about was the famous introduction of the whole book. For every student in his class in middle school, it was the easiest to figure out. But since it was the first time for Tod to read a book in English, it made sense.

"What this means is that this world... Is made up of a lot opposites. ["It was the best of times and the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness."]. You get the idea."

"Wow, you read this before haven't you?"

"I have."

"Thanks, oh and one more thing." He leans close to Rono's ear to whisper something.

"How are things with you and Sakaki?" He whispers.

"What do you mean?"

It took a moments for him to process this kind of question to his head. He really doesn't know anything about relationships, or anything lewd.

"Oh! Nothing, what makes you think that?!" He blushes while rubbing the back of his head.

"Recently, I've seen you become friendlier to Sakaki everyday, too friendly now that I think about it."

"How!"

"Sometimes I see you walking with Chiyo and Sakaki together."

"Ew, stalker."

"Shut up, I'm not a stalker!" He says out loud causing the people surrounding them to stare at him.

"Um, never mind that. What I'm saying is that nobody has ever gotten that close to Sakaki before, except for her friends. You however, are the first guy to bond with her. She's usually quiet most of the time."

"Really, how come she isn't when I'm around her?"

"Don't know, it could be that she has known you before, or she likes you."

"You mean as a friend?"

"No."

"Then what?"

Tod face palms, he figured that Rono doesn't know anything about relationships at all. Not even a single bit!

"Never mind!"

Class almost came to an end, Yukari announced something before the that.

"Ok class! For homework tonight, you have to make a summary of the first chapter. Another thing, I won't be here tomorrow so you will have a substitute!"

"If you don't do the homework, there will consequences. Good luck and goodbye."

The bell rang as she ended the announcement.


	5. Affinity

Affinity

The two boys went downstairs to the first floor. Their next class is P.e, Tod wasn't looking forward to this. Rono just shrugged it off and considered it as a free period. Normally the things aren't complex when it comes to P.e compared to school. Somehow in every P.e period he excels in every quarter in middle school without giving it his all. This was an incredible ability in other people's eyes, but he doesn't feel all that there was anything special about it.

When they got to their destination the first thing they did before going to class is to put on the shoes for P.e. Putting on the uniforms was the next, then after that, they went outside by the track. Both of the boys had to split up because Rono wanted to greet the girls.

"I'll see you later Tod!"

"Alright, see you!"

Tod had nothing to do so he decided to look for the short-haired girl that he'd met last time. He walked around the track to try to find the girl. It didn't took that long for him until he found her behind the trees.

 _What is she doing?_ He thought

She seems to be spying on someone.

He looked over the direction she was looking. As his eyes moved towards the direction she was looking, it was a group six people. Five of them were female, one was a male. It was no doubt that it was Rono and the other girls.

"Who is she looking at, since Rono is the only guy in the group then I guess it's him. Looks like he has a secret admirer."

He slowly tiptoes to Kaorin, stops behind her. Kaorin still not noticing anything, she looks at the group with a blushing face. Tod raised both of his hands toward her shoulder area. Then he quickly touches both of her shoulders which causes her to scream.

"Ah!"

"Hey what was that?" Yomi questioned.

"It's probably nothing, maybe a screaming cat." Tomo guessed.

"A cat you say?" Sakaki and Rono quickly exclaimed.

"Don't even try believing her." Yomi said

"Or maybe it could be an alien abducting a helpless girl." Osaka added.

"Especially Osaka."

 **Back to Tod and Kaorin...**

"Oh it's you, why would you scare me like that!?"

"I just felt like it."

"You're unbelievable."

"Hehehe, right am I not?"

They both giggled after he said that statement. The two looked at the ground not giving eye contact for a minute.

"So... Why are you here for? Weren't you with Rono back there."

"Yeah, but he left me for no reason. What a jerk." He said jokingly, Kaorin chuckled.

"Hey why were you staring at them?"

"No I wasn't! I was just...bird watching!"

"At the ground area?"

"Uh, fine you caught me. I was watching them." She slouched a little to the ground.

"Do you have a crush?"

"Eh? What makes you say that out of the blue."

"Because it seemed like it."

A moment of silence occurred, a minute had past with not one answer. Tod soon gave up on trying to get his answer, but it didn't stop his curiosity.

"Well, I'm sorry for asking you that Kaorin. Have you told any of your friends who it was that you liked?"

"No, it's very personal that even my friends don't know it yet."

"Ok but when you feel ready to tell me, tell me. I won't think anything weird about it, it is your life after all, and that's the way it should be."

"Ok Tod, thank you for understanding."

"No problem!" He said with a big smile while rubbing the back of his neck.

"We should probably get going, the teacher is about to arrive."

"Alright."

Soon both of them walked to their P.e teachers.

 _I can not risk on letting anyone know that I have a thing with miss Sakaki!_ she thought

When every student got to their classes, Tod walked with Kaorin who was still looking at Sakaki when she was making her way to class. Now we will see what Rono and the others are going to do now.

"Ok class, today we are going to start playing Volley ball for this week. First we are going to refresh our minds with some basic drills. For today we are only doing basic passes to our partners. Everybody has to be in a pair!"

As everybody began to get their partners, Chiyo began to worry who would hers. Since she is smallest one in the school, nobody would even pick her as a partner when it came to sports. Luckily for her she found one, it was the one and only spaced out girl, Osaka.

"Miss Osaka over here!"

"Huh? Oh, hi Chiyo-chan!"

"Hi there! Would you please be my partner?"

"Sure!"

Yomi once again got Tomo as her partner, sadly. Rono didn't know which partner he should pick at first. But then a tall and long Raven black-haired girl came up behind him without a sound.

"Hey Rono."

"Oh hey there Sakaki, what is it?"

"Want to be partners?" She said in her calm voice.

"Huh, oh sure. Why not."

"Rono, if you ever need a partner. We can be partners for the rest of the year if you want." She blushed.

"Really? That is very kind of you, as you can tell I'm a shy person. Not really a conversational person when it comes to random people."

"How come you're not when you're with me and the others?" She asked.

"Because...I feel safe when I'm around you all...especially when I'm with you."

This unexpected statement made Sakaki blush a shade of pink on her cheeks. Rono didn't know why Sakaki had that reaction. He accidentally made her blush without knowing a thing about it. Meanwhile, Kurosawa took out the Volley balls and gave them to every pair of students. Right when she came up to Rono and Sakaki, she commented something to both of them.

"Hm, our best athlete with our other best athlete. This will be very interesting in the future."

"What do you mean?" Rono asked.

"You'll see when the time comes." Then she walks away to the next pair.

It was now time to begin with the drill.

"Okay Sakaki, I will pass it to you softly."

"Oh come on just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean I'll get hurt!" She said playfully.

Rono never saw this side of her before, but he kind of liked it. That's when the hint of nostalgic feeling had hit him.

 _Why is this so familiar, why is this feeling coming up again?_ He thought

"Alright Sakaki, you asked for it."

He passes the ball to her and she hits it back to him. Rono missed the ball and it bounced off behind him.

"Now do you see Rono? Girls are just as better as Boys." She says as she put her hands on her hips moving side to side when she talks.

"Hehe, you're right I should never judge people by their appearances. Especially to a tomboy." He grins evilly.

"Oh damn!" Said a random guy.

"Grr, you take that back!"

"Not until you keep the ball from falling. This time, I won't hold back!"

Their eyes shined a bright and shiny star. Both of them are now at full competitive mode. As for Chiyo and Osaka, things aren't going as planned as it should be.

"Are you ready miss Osaka?"

"Ready when you are!"

She passes the ball to her but fails miserably, she tries again but this time the ball fell on top of Osaka's head.

"Ow. I'll go get it!"

She runs over to the ball and runs back.

"Ready?"

"Okay!"

She passes the ball but it then fell on Chiyo's head because she couldn't catch the ball in time, plus the ball was also high up.

"Ow! It's ok I got it!" She does the same as Osaka, she runs to the ball and goes back to her last position. They both repeat the process again and again, it was no wonder why nobody would pick them as a partner in sports. Kurosawa looks at them and tries to forget what she just saw.

She walks over to the other pair which are Tomo and Yomi. The two girls were trying out the drills just like any other person would do, until one of them started to yell out random things and hitting the ball at the other really hard, that girl, was Tomo.

"HEY! What the heck are you doing!" Yelled Yomi

"I'm making things a lot more interesting, besides I'm bored of this."

"You can't even pass the ball right!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm already a pro at this, besides, how hard can it be?"

She passes the ball to Yomi but it only travels two feet across. It wasn't even halfway to where Yomi was standing. Kurosawa decides to move on with the next group. The next pair were Tod and Kaorin, to her surprise, they were the only normal ones who tried their best besides Rono and Sakaki

Both of the young teenagers were practicing on doing the drills like any person would do. The thing that catches Kurosawa's eye is how well the two were bonding with each other really well. Only close friends were able to do this kind of thing. Even when one accidentally hits the other with the ball, they continuously apologize to eachother.

"Oh! I'm truely sorry Tod, it's my mistake!"

"Nah it's ok Kaorin, I wouldn't mind getting getting a from you."

"What?"

"Ah! Uh, nothing!"

W _hy did I just blurt that out of nowhere! My perverted side is coming out somehow!_ He thought.

"Oh really?" Kaorin chuckles

Tod smiles when it happens, a part of him regrets it, but it was worth it to see her smile.

Kurosawa smiles at this sight, it was very heartwarming indeed seeing how those two began to develop more affinity. She walks over to Rono and Sakaki for her last stop.

 _I wonder what those two are doing, hopefully nothing crazy._ She thought

When she walks over to them, she finds both of them lying on the floor heavily breathing.

"That was a nice little competition there."

"Yeah." She said in her calm voice.

A few minutes of silence occurred between the two. Rono broke the silence with an apology.

"I'm sorry for calling you a "Tomboy" Sakaki."

"It's ok, I knew you were joking."

"Really? I'm glad."

Both of them began to think of something to spend a few more minutes with each other. Then it hits them with a brilliant idea.

"Hey wanna get some juice?" They both said at the same time, both of them blushed.

"Uh, sure." They both said again at the same time again. The two giggled at each other.

 _Aw if only I had that kind of affection from someone. Well, it is about time class should end after all._ Kurosawa thought.

And so, she did so with telling them all what the next objective they will do the next day. The group later went to their locker rooms, the girls went to the girl's locker room, the boys went to the boy's locker room. Sakaki and Rono started to get ready to see eachother outside the school for the juices they both promised.

Rono stands outside the school gates, he waits for Sakaki but it starts to take a while for her. He starts to worry and wonders what was taking her so long. So he goes to the girls locker room building. Before he could even make it he meets up with Sakaki with surprise.

"Oh hey." He said.

"Where were you going?"

"I was going to the girls locker room."

"Why would you do that?"

"You were taking too long, I began to worry that you would cancel on me." He looks down in shame.

"I wasn't planning to, you do know girls take longer to dress out than boys, do you?"

"No."

 _Wait I forgot, he doesn't know anything that much about girls_. She thought.

"Well, shall we?"

"Sure."

So the both left to the vending machine with the juices. It was located in the middle of the open area of a he school. There is no roof on the area, just natural sunlight and Cherry Blossom trees. Since the school was big, it would take 5 minutes just to get there from the front of the school. On their way there, there were ongoing club activities in session in some of the classrooms. One of them were the sports club which both Sakaki and Rono didn't plan on joining anytime soon. Second was the astronomy club, Kaorin was part of it and was about to get in the room too.

"Hi Miss Sakaki!" She said in excitement.

"Hey Kaorin." Sakaki said in her cool voice.

When she slowly looked over on who the person was on Sakaki's right side, her face slowly transitioned to a natural face. Her eyes slowly looked over to the ground and proceeded to say something else.

"Hi Rono..." She said this time in a depressed voice.

Sakaki didn't notice but the only one who did was Rono. He began to wonder what made her become this way. What did he even do? What was the reason for this? He shrugged it off after a bit, that is now something he had to find out later. They were almost to their destination, Rono wanted to go do his business in the bathroom. Luckily for him, the two were now by the bathrooms. He looked over at Sakaki who was still focused to her front direction to tell her his first stop.

"Sakaki, I have to go to the bathroom, could you please wait for me?"

She nodded, he goes inside the bathroom to do his business. When he finished, he walks up to the sink to wash his hands. He decides to wash his face but the thing that bothered him were the bandages wounded around his head. It has been a few hours since the last time he had it on. It was about time to take it off, just be safe he gets a paper towel that way if his head is still bleeding he can cover it. He takes off the pin on the side of the bandages by his side of his head, he slowly unwinds the bandages from his head. His heart starts to race when he reaches halfway of taking the whole thing off, when he finally takes it all off he checks his forehead where the wound was first. When he does that, he looks down on the badges which is now covered in dried up blood. Most of the bandages were covered in red because of the blood. He throws it in the trash and now washes his face. He dries himself up, opens the door and goes outside. Sakaki notices the door open, she immediately turns around and looks at his brown eyes.

"Back already?"

"Yeah."

She notices something different about him, it was at that very moment that she knew the bandages were now off. The wound that was just opened from this morning has now finally been healed. She sighed in relief as she noticed.

"Your bandages are off and your wound has healed up...I'm glad."

"Me too. Well we're halfway there aren't we?"

"To where?" She questioned.

"To the vending machines of course!"

"Oh yeah, my bad." She blushed she felt embarrassed, it made her think that Rono thought of her as "dumb". However he ignored it, he instead found her a bit cute when she blushed. He shook his head and continued.

"Let's go."

And so they carried on and continued walking forward. The doors are around the corner, which means a few feet more for those delicious juices! Now they turn around to the corner which now leads to the door for those vending machines. They go outside the doors, the sunlight shines on them as they get out, now standing in front of them were benches, cherry blossom trees and especially the 5 vending machines. All of that excersize from P.e and the walking made their throats parched. They walk over to the machines and silence filled the air. They noticed they were the only ones there. Rono breaks the silence by telling Sakaki:

"The juices are on me!" He exclaimed.

"Oh no, you don't have to." She said.

"No it's alright, I got this!"

And thus, she agreed to the offer. He puts in the amount of money the vending machine required to get the juices. He starts to look at the selection menu for the juices to decide which one he should get.

"I'll pick green tea juice please." He said as he presses the button.

Sakaki to her surprise remembered that Rono still likes green tea. It was his favorite ever since they were both kids. Whenever they both got out for a drink near the park, Rono would always pick green tea juice.

Before he puts in the money into the machine, he asks Sakaki which one she wanted.

"Hey Sakaki, which one do you want?"

"Either would be fine." She smiled to him, in returns he nodded.

In reality, she actually wanted coconut juice. It was her favorite since her early days as a little girl. Rono looks around the selection menu a second time. He wants to give Sakaki the best one which is the limited time juice of the vending machine, tangerine juice. However, something was holding him back from choosing it.

 _Somehow I feel that she doesn't want this kind of drink._ He thought

He looks over at the coconut flavor one and it made him wonder.

 _I have this feeling that she wants this coconut one, she did say she wanted any flavor from this machine right? Well, I'll pick this coconut one for her then._

Sakaki was looking at him the whole time, looking to find out what flavor he would get for her. And thus, the result was the coconut flavor. The plastic cup fell down from the vending machine and instantly started pouring the coconut juice to the cup. When juice stopped pouring, Rono took out the cup out of the vending machine and gave it to her.

"Here you go, hope you like coconut juice!"

"Thanks." She soon took a sip of it and wondered.

 _How did he know coconut was my favorite?_ She thought.

"How did you know coconut is my favorite?" She asked.

"Oh, uh." He began to think what made him choose the flavor.

 _Now that she mentions it why did I get it for her? Not even I know what made me get it, could it be by instinct or maybe I already knew that it was her favorite?_ He thought.

"To be honest, I don't really know. I just felt like this was the right one for you, I wanted to give you the limited time juice for you at first but it was just something that kept me from getting it." He said

"Oh..well..thanks for the drink."

"No problem it was my pleasure."

Both of the high schoolers sat there talking for a while and then they left the area, they went through the long hallways, out the entrance, and out of the school grounds. They begin to walk through the Cherry Blossom Tree trails, as any person would do, they watch the many blossoms slowly fall down to the ground in awe.

Before they knew, they were now out of the trail and now in the streets by the houses. Since the both had taken a long time in the school, there were barely any people in the streets they were walking on. After a few minutes, Rono and Sakaki are now completely alone. Pure silence filled the streets, all that remained of the lonely and almost dark streets was silence.

"Rono what time is it?"

"Oh my god it's 7:57! Did we really take that long just to get juice!" He exclaimed.

Sakaki surprised at the news, but more importantly is how her parents would react. She has never been this late because of school before. She didn't have clubs nor study sessions in school, that is the reason why. She began to worry if anyone would be following her when she starts to walk home by herself in the dark.

"Hey Sakaki, how far do you live away from me?"

"About 10 minutes from you."

"That's going to be a problem."

She wondered what he meant from this statement. Could he be planning something suspicious?

"I should walk you home."

"Huh? Why?"

"There could be some suspicious people out in the dark. Anything could happen at this time of day after all." He added.

Rono is right after all, who knows what would happen to a person walking alone in the dark and lonely street.

 _It should be alright, I think my dad might just remember who he is._ She thought

They both made it to her house safe and sound. Luckily no one was around at the time. Sakaki presses the doorbell and next the intercom. Immediately someone answered her right away.

"Sakaki! Is that you? Are you hurt!?"

"It's okay,I'm alright."

The gates open, the door slams open and someone comes out of there. That person comes down running to Sakaki and hugged her very tightly. Rono figured that this person is her mother.

"Where have you been? Did something happen at school?" She says worriedly.

"No nothing happened, I was hanging out with Rono. I didn't notice how much time we were using up so that's how I got here late. I'm really sorry." She was about to burst in tears, but her mother instead comfort her.

"It's alright, as long as you're in good condition, everything is alright."

Rono felt like a ghost, both of them didn't even notice him around. He wants to go home even if he was tired.

"Oh I didn't notice you there." Sakaki's mother said.

 _About time you noticed._ He thought to himself.

"As you already know I'm Sakaki's mother. Come inside you must be cold out here."

Rono followed both of them inside the house. When he entered they ended up in the living room, in it was a kotastu. The only person in there was a tall man that was 4 inches taller than him. The man looked at him straight in the eyes, if it were different boy in the house, he would be scared out of his mind. However for Rono, he didn't feel any sign of fear at all. He just looked at him with curiosity.

 _Why does he look so familiar?_ He thought

"Who's this kid?"

"Honey we need to talk." She grabs her husband by the ear.

"Ow ow watch it!"

"I left some pastries on the table, help yourself if you want. I'll be back with some tea for both of you."

She left the room to the kitchen.

"Honey can you explain to me why that boy is in our house." He asked.

"It's Rono."

"Who's that?" He thought about it for a minute and then soon remembered.

"Woah really? it's been so long since we've seen him! I have to greet him right away!"

He walks to the door but is stopped by his wife. She grabbed his hand with hers and looks down.

"That's what we came here to talk about."

"What is it?"

"He lost his childhood memories. He doesn't remember her or us at all." She said in sadness.

The two felt sorry for Sakaki, they wanted to help their daughter but they couldn't do anything.

"The good thing is that they both recently became friends along with other girls, that's the good side of all of that."

"Well, I always thought of him as the son I never had. He would always bring the light of day for us. His dad is a lucky one, however he'll never have a daughter this adorable in his life." He chuckled.

"How about if we let Rono spend the night here." Sakaki's mother suggested as she prepared the green tea.

"As long as he doesn't harm our daughter during her sleep, then it's fine with me."

"Thank you, that one of the reasons why I decided to get married with you!"

Sakaki's dad blushed, it's also the reason why he married her. She is always so nice to him even in his toughest times back in his day.

The two leave the kitchen and then entered the living room. The first thing they both saw was Rono turning around with crumbs of pastry around his face. He had his mouth full and then immediately swallowed.

"The pastries are delicious! Did you make these Mrs. Sakaki?"

"Yes I have." She answered.

"They're the best I've ever had!"

"Thank you so much!"

They all sat down with each other by the kotastu and started eating the pastries with green tea. Everyone enjoyed this normally, all except Rono. He was enjoying this too much, the most delicious pastries with his favorite tea. This was heaven to Rono, he can finally relax in peace.

It was all silent while eating the last snacks for the day. Mrs. Sakaki broke the silence.

"Rono, since we've recently heard about the "incident" you had yesterday, our daughter had to spend the night at your house. My husband and I have decided to let you spend the night here in return."

"Really that would be great! Well, if it's okay with both of you."

"Don't sweat it kid, I've approved it." Mr. Sakaki said in return.

"Thank you so much!" His eyes sparkled in delight.

 _He still has the same sparkle he had when he was younger, looks like it's still him after all. I just hope he remembers us some day._ Mr. Sakaki thought.

They all finished up with their last snacks for the day and went upstairs. The next thing they have to do is take a shower, no time for baths because everyone was exhausted. First up were the girls then the boys. First was Mrs. Sakaki, second Sakaki, third is Rono, last was Mr. Sakaki.

When Rono got out the shower, he went to the walk-in closet to change. After that, he went upstairs to Sakaki's room. It is the room he was going to sleep in. He knocked on the door first and waited for an answer.

"Come in." Sakaki answered.

He entered the room soon to find Sakaki setting up the spare futon for Rono.

"This the the futon I'm going to sleep on?"

"Yes it is."

When she finished doing the finishing touch she climbs over on her bed and crawls under the blankets.

"Good night." Rono said.

"Good night...thanks for walking me home."

"No problem, it's what friends do right?"

"Right." She added.

Sakaki turns off the lamp by her bed and both of them lie down to sleep. Ten minutes have passed, none of them could sleep a bit. It was a bit awkward now that both of them were fully aware that they were sleeping in the same room with someone.

"Hey, can't sleep?" Sakaki whispered.

"Yeah." He whispered back

Silence occurred for a few seconds, then Sakaki broke it.

"If you want...you can...sleep...with me." She said blushing profusely.

"Sure."

He gets out of his covers, slowly climbs over to the bed and crawls under the warm blanket with Sakaki. She felt warmer than ever now.

"Better?" She asked.

"Better." He answered.

For the second time, she still could sleep yet. However for Rono, he immediately fell in a deep sleep in a matter of minutes.

"Rono you awake?" She stood up to check on him just as she found him asleep.

She smiles at his sleeping face. Somehow, he reminds him of a cat.

 _He's cute._ She thought.

Suddenly, Rono turned over and slowly moved his arms around Sakaki. For the third time, he hugs Sakaki in his sleep. She felt even warmer this time, this helped gain her exhaustion back. She can finally sleep happily with no worries whatsoever.

"Thank you Rono for giving me a happy life." She said quietly as she returns Rono the hug and slowly falls in a deep slumber with a smile.


	6. Plans

**Plans**

It is a dark and gloomy night outside. The wind is blowing, the temperature is cold and the sky is still pure black but only 5 percent of the sky had natural light. It was no doubt that it is way early in the morning. Rarely anybody stays up at this hour, only people who still had to accomplish their priorities or people with night shifts would stay up this late. Mrs. Sakaki is one of those people.

She woke up out of no reason, something was in her mind. She had to do something, but she couldn't put finger on it. She got out of her bed, puts on her sleeping robe and exits her bedroom. Now that she was awake, she should might as well check on the kids. While slowly tip toeing on the floor, she makes her way to Sakaki's door and slowly turns the doorknob, she opens the door as slow as possible that way it doesn't creak when she opens it wide open. The first she checks is where Rono was suppose to sleep in the spare futon. To her surprise, he wasn't there.

She checks on Sakaki next, the thing that surprised her the most was the fact Rono was sleeping next to Sakaki in the same bed! This gave her a memory far before from the current time they were in right now.

"That reminds me." She said.

 **Flashback...**

After Sakaki got back from Rono's sleepover, she explained the whole "forgotten futon" situation to her mother. Things didn't seem to go as planned before she even went to the sleepover in the first place, she bowed to always get prepared for any upcoming events. Especially in special occasions like these.

"You what!"

"I forgot my futon." Sakaki said

"Then how did you sleep over there?"

"I slept in one of the beds." Sakaki added

"Oh, well that's good. Who's which bed did you sleep in anyways?"

"In Rono's."

"What! Where did Rono sleep on?"

"In his bed, I just slept beside him."

"Really, did anything happen during your sleep."

"Yeah, he hugged me while he was asleep." She smiled.

"Is that all?"

"Yeah."

A few seconds of silence occurred between the two. Mrs. Sakaki felt shocked and confused at the same time, she was worried that something else happened between the two during that. So she asked her daughter a question.

"Sakaki...how did you feel...when that happened."

Sakaki began to think for a minute, all she could describe was the warm and happy feeling she had. It wasn't anything bad at all, nothing about that hug made her uncomfortable.

"I felt...happy...it was the first time someone has ever hugged me besides the people in my family."

"Did anything else happened during that, did he touch you anywhere which made you feel uncomfortable?"

"No mommy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes mommy."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise!" She said cheerfully as she wrapped her pinky around her mother's.

 _It's very unlikely for Sakaki to be this happy, thank you Rono for making my daughter the happiest girl in this house. He's such a good kid!_ Mrs. Sakaki thought.

 **Flashback ends...**

"Still the same Rono as back then, just with a hint of amnesia I guess." She said quietly.

She looks over at Sakaki's face as she finds her with a smile without showing teeth on her face.

 _She really is happy isn't she?_ She thought.

She covers both of the teens up with the blankets on their bodies and then she leaves the two to continue their long and relieving slumber.

 **Next morning...**

The sun finally rose up to the sky where it is now morning, the birds are singing, the fresh morning air finally invades the air, the breeze lightly blows through the streets enough to give people a little bit of a chill. One of the only people that woke up from sleeping at the time were Mr. Sakaki and Mrs. Sakaki. Both of them had something they had to do. The mom had to make bentos for both Sakaki and Rono, the dad of course had to go to work; he has to go to the hospital since he is a forensic pathologist.

Now we go take a look at the sleeping teens in the same bed. The first who starts to wake up is Rono. He slowly opens his eyes and waits until his eyes adjust a bit. He feels his arms wrapping around something, it wasn't a pillow or anything. It wasn't just something in his arms, but it's a person his arms. It was Sakaki of course, he moves his arms away but he had trouble doing so. Just from a little movement from his arms caused Sakaki to wake up.

She slowly opens her eyes and starts to feel her arms wrapped around something. Again, it wasn't a "something" but a someone. She looks to find out who it was and it is the only one who's in the room with was Rono. Sakaki blushes bright pink on her face when she realizes what she was doing right now. She starts to remember what happened last night. Rono was the one who hugged her in the first place so it wasn't her fault. Although, she is the one who gave him a hug in return.

"Good morning." He said in a whispered tone.

"G-good morning." She said as she blushed hard.

"It seems I have been toss and turning around in my sleep and somehow ended up hugging you in the process."

"Y-yeah, you were."

"I'm very sorry Sakaki! I don't know why I always do that every time I sleep, I hope I didn't prevent you from sleeping!" He said as he got out of the bed to stand up and bow in apology.

"Oh no! Don't worry I slept very soundly before you even you hugged me." She lied, she would never of slept if Rono hadn't hugged her that night.

"Okay, but still I'm sorry. We should go downstairs to eat breakfast now, there's school today!"

"We have to change first." She said in her now calm voice.

"Oh right!" He said as he rubs the back of his head.

Rono goes to the cabinet where his uniform was at and grabs it. He places it down and removes the pants of his pajamas on the spare futon he was suppose to sleep on last night. The thing he didn't know was that your not suppose to change into your clothes when someone is literally behind you, especially in front of a girl. Sakaki looked at him with surprise and blushes profusely when she finds out he's changing in front of her.

"Rono, what are you doing!"

"What do you think I'm doing, I'm changing into my uniform."

"But why in front of me!"

"I want to eat, I'm hungry. This is the quickest way to get ready after all. What's so bad about changing into your clothes in front of someone anyways?"

Sakaki stuck in shock, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Never in her life has she seen a boy change into his clothes. It all ended shortly as he finished up.

"Come on we have to change into our uniforms."

He leaves the room, goes through the hallway and walks down the stairs to the kitchen. He meets Mrs. Sakaki on the way, he greets her as she starts to prepare the breakfast for them.

"Good morning Mrs. Sakaki!" He said in a cheerful tone.

"Oh you scared me a little there Rono, good morning to you!" She got surprised for a bit, but her spirits went up as she found out it was him.

"Oh let me help you prepare the food."

"Thank you." She said in return.

As he helps her out, he checks on every plate to see what was on the menu for today at the Sakaki residence. His grumbled as he checks every plate. On the menu is white rice, rolled up scrambled egg, bacon and 3 sausages and for his drink was orange juice. This is certainly going to be a delicious breakfast. Before he could even eat, he decided to wait for Sakaki to come down. A few minutes of silence occurred, Mrs. Sakaki broke the silence.

"Rono, what do you think of Sakaki?" She questioned him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what do you think of her as?"

He thought this out in his head, she had always thought of her as a very nice person. However she was very pretty to her when she first saw her the first day. As soon they both began to know each other better, that feeling began to fade away. Now he sees her as a sister he never had.

"She's a really good friend, but sometimes I see her as the sister I never had." He blushed as he said this.

"Really? Let me ask you something, have you ever had this feeling that you have somehow...known her before...sometime in your...childhood?"

Rono surprised by this knew that this was in fact true. Ever since the first day he came to school, he kept on having these kind of feelings. The nostalgia gets even stronger every day. The only time he feels this is whenever he hangs out with Sakaki, it is strange indeed.

"Now that you mention it, I have. But that can't be true, I know that in my childhood that I was always alone."

"Well, someday you'll find out what really happened." She said.

 _What!?_ He thought.

He became baffled from this statement, he tried figuring out what she meant by this. Both of them heard footsteps coming down the stairs, it was Sakaki coming back down for breakfast. She walks through the hallway, opens the door to the kitchen and smells the aroma in it. Her stomach grumbles because of the hunger she now has.

"Good morning mom, good morning Rono."

"Good morning." They both said in return upon the same time.

She sits down on the chair by the table and looks at Rono for a bit and smiles. In return he smiles back. Both of them begin to eat their breakfast, but before they do that, they have to give their thank yous.

"Thank you for the food." They both said as they press their hands together.

They both finally eat the delicious food made from Mrs. Sakaki. When finished, they would go upstairs to brush their teeth first. After that, they go downstairs once again and make it to the front door. Rono and Sakaki say goodbye to Mrs. Sakaki and exit the building and the fences and off to school they go.

The two walk over to Chiyo's house to wait for her so they can all walk with each other to school. Sakaki presses on the intercom of the house.

"Is Chiyo there?"

Took a minute for someone to answer, but after that there was someone who answered her back.

"Yes I am, I'll be there in a minute!"

The gates opened on her command, when the gates were halfway opened, the front door opened as well. The pig-tailed girl came running up to the gate.

"Sorry guys, did you wait long?"

"No, we just got here." Rono said

"I'm glad."

"To school we go!" Rono said with his fist up in the air.

Just as they said, next destination was to go to school. The beautiful and radiant morning sun covered everything with warm temperature. Usually it would be very hot in the morning, but for today it is the perfect temperature to start out a great morning. The fresh morning air had once again filled up everyone's lungs to cause them to get relieved on how the day ahead of them will turn out. It starting to turn out to be a great morning if you asked anyone who was on the spot.

Silence just filled between the three for the past few minutes. It got all silent as they walked passed Rono's apartment building. All the noise there is were the now driven automobiles in the streets. After a while, Chiyo couldn't take the awkwardness between the three of them and decided to break the silence with a question she had.

"Hey Rono, I have a question for you." Said the curious girl.

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" He replied back.

"Did you wake up early today?"

"No I haven't, I woke up today at the same time as I always do."

"Really. Then how did you come over my house to pick me up with Miss Sakaki?"

"Oh that! Me and Sakaki slept with eachother!" As he said this, it caused Sakaki to blush. She hoped Chiyo didn't get the wrong idea, most likely not because she is still a 10 year-old girl.

"What! Really! How come?"

"Well, remember the day when I fell on my head which caused me to have a wound? Sakaki's parents wanted to thank me for letting her stay over at my house so she could take care of me. So they offered me to stay at their house for the night in return!"

"Wow that's so cool, I want to stay over at Miss Sakaki's house too! Although, there's something else that still doesn't make sense."

"Like what?" Sakaki said as she joined in the conversation.

"Like the reason why you guys didn't show up yesterday to walk home with me, Miss Yomi, Miss Osaka and Tomo."

"Oh that. It's a long story, I'll tell you when we cross this street." They all crossed street as the walk signal blinked beside the stop light.

"Alright, right after when p.e ended, Sakaki and I became tired after competing with each other on volleyball."

"But we were just doing drills." Chiyo said.

"Well, we forgot about it at the time." He said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Anyways, we both went to the vending machines in the middle of the school to get juice. We hung out for a while there while we were drinking our juice. It took a while for us to actually look at the time. Turns out we came back in two hours. It got dark when we were halfway to my house, so I decided to walk Sakaki home. Suspicious stuff can happen when you're outside at night by yourself you know." He informed.

"Really, like what?" Chiyo asked in a troubled state.

"Let me see... there could be some strange creatures lurking behind you." This statement caused Chiyo to squeal. However for Sakaki, she knows that this isn't true whatsoever.

"That's when my mom told me at least when I was little."

Sakaki's eyes immediately widened with surprise.

"Wait, you remember what happened back then!?" She exclaimed.

"No, strangely that's the only thing I remember from back when I was little."

She got her hopes up but it soon all came back down, but this is a sign that Rono is starting to remember little by little, piece by piece, fragment by fragment of his memory each in a few days. If he's lucky, he could remember all of that very soon. The question Rono had in his mind is what was keeping him from remembering everything from back then.

"We're almost there." Rono said.

Questions began to develop inside Sakaki's head while Rono and Chiyo walked to school cheerfully. When they finally got there, the first thing to do there was to put on the school Uwabakis and leaving the their own shoes in the locker. All of them climbed upstairs to the 4th floor of the school and went to the homeroom class. The first thing they looked at is the area where Yomi, Tomo and Osaka sat. The three girls were sitting down with three desks facing eachother. All but Osaka were talking, she seemed to be spacing out the whole time.

Rono, Sakaki and Chiyo walked up to them and brought up three desks close by. Then, the new conversation commences.

"How was the homework?" Asked Tomo.

"Pretty easy I can say, The Tales of Two Cities is one of my favorite books after all.." Rono the first to reply back.

"Well of course, you lived in America. You probably already know this stuff anyways. Hey now that we're talking about homework, can I copy yours? I forgot to do mine."

"Tell her no, she never does her homework." Yomi said.

"How'd you know, we're you two friends before?" Rono asked.

"Yes we were, we knew each other since kindergarten. She may be a pain in the butt most of the time, but we're still friends somehow."

"Hey! You're making it sound like a bad thing!"

"Didn't really mean to make it as a good thing in the first place." Yomi whispered.

"What did you say!" Tomo yelled.

The idea of the homework due that day triggered Chiyo.

"Oh no! I forgot to do that homework assignment!"

"What, why?" Rono asked.

"I had to go to the veterinarian with Mr. Tadakichi."

"Who's Mr. Tadakichi?"

Everybody had the same question in their minds.

"It's my pet dog."

"Oh, was there anything wrong with him?" Rono said.

"No, it's just his monthly check-up he had to get."

The school bell rang which caused the conversation to come to an end. Everyone began sit back down to their assigned seats, as for the group they had to put back the desks where they were and then go back. Everyone remembered that Ms. Yukari would not be there for today. The door opened up the next minute, someone came inside the classroom and walked up to the chalk board. There stood a big and tough looking guy. He looked like he was in his 30's, he has black hair and had a tall posture. The moment he turned around, he gave an intimating glare which gave people the chills. It gave a clue that this is the substitute Yukari was talking about the other day. He doesn't look like he would be an easy going substitute, but a strict one. Rono didn't get why everyone looked so scared at the time, he saw him as any other person. The substitute quickly turned around to face the class.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mr. Kishimoto. I will be the subsitute for this class today. First up, take out your homework from last night. Those of you who didn't finish the homework, come up here! Your not going to get away with this today!"

The students then stood up from their desks and proceeded to walk up including Tomo, Chiyo and surprisingly Tod! He walks close to Rono commenting this.

"What do you think he'll do to us?"

"Don't know to be honest."

"Maybe he's going to put you in the incinerator of the school." Osaka commented.

"I don't think that's even a punishment, more like torture." Tod replied back.

As Chiyo and Tod stood by the chalk board with the other students, the first thing the subsitute did is to get a newspaper, roll it up, and hit the students on the head lightly.

"I expect completed assignments from you all!"

"Yes sir!" They all said.

The last one to get hit was Chiyo, Mr. Kishimoto didn't see anyone at first but as he looked down, he found the little pig-tailed girl.

"Well...well I uh..guess I was...maybe a little bit careless and I was really planning on doing it all I really was! I-I just forgot to!"

Mr. Kishimoto felt bad for the little girl, but instead he hits her softly on her forehead. The students who got hit from the substitute found this unfair and said this in their heads.

 _Pedophile._

Everyone walked back to their assigned seats and sat down quietly. After that the assignment for the day were some study guides that Yukari created before she went off whatever she was doing now. As always, Yukari lets her students work and study in groups. The reason for the study guides is because there will be a test the next day. Tod was the first to ask Rono to be his partner, he needs help on some of the questions. Rono turns his head to his left to ask Sakaki if it was alright for him to be Tod's partner for this time, she nods to the question. The two boys leave to a different pair of desks, as for Sakaki, she has to find a partner. If she couldn't, then she will have to work by herself. Tomo, Yomi, Chiyo, and Osaka already have paired up with each other. Luckily for her, someone asks her by surprise.

"Miss Sakaki?"

"Hm? Oh it's you Kaorin."

"Is it okay if... I can be your partner?"

"Sure." She replied back.

The tall and calm girl is finally relieved, she has a nice and caring partner. For Kaorin, she felt as if she were in heaven the whole time when ever she's with Sakaki. After a whole thirty minutes of studying, Rono looks out over where Sakaki sits at and stares at her for a minute. He also feels relieved when she is all calm and happy, same with those that he holds dear. Soon he snaps out of it as Tod snaps with his fingers.

"Hehe, caught you staring at her. Do you have a thing for her."

"Tod, have you ever had the urge of knowing more about the people you hold dear the most?"

"What do you mean by that, you mean the girls?"

"Yeah." He says as he stares at the group with his hand on the desk holding the side of his face tilting to the right.

"Just to make things clear, haven't you had any friends before?"

"Nope, not a sing one since I has just a little kid."

"Damn really? Well, let me tell you this. The point of friends is to know more about each other a little better, that way you can all have a great time whenever you hang out."

"Now is that true?"

 **The lunch bell rings...**

"Well that should be enough studying for now, next period is History." Rono says.

"Sadly, it won't be a normal class anyways."

"Right, well, see you later Tod."

"Later."

Rono puts the desk back in place and walks over to his now empty desk. Sakaki takes out her bento, same with Rono. They both eat peacefully as they face each other. Just one look that they give to each other and they chuckle.

"Sakaki, may I ask you something."

"Yeah what is it?" She said.

"Do you want to hang out after school tomorrow at the mall? I'm also inviting the others too though."

"Sure, what made you decide that?" She said surprised at the request.

"I want to know you all a little better, and also have a bit of fun with all of you too!"

"Alright."

"I'll ask the girls right now."

He walks over to Yomi, Tomo, Chiyo and Osaka to ask them. All except Chiyo were eating the the food from the cafeteria by their desks.

"Hey guys, can I ask you all something?"

"Sure what's up?" Yomi replied back.

"Are you all free after school tomorrow?"

"I am, I don't know about the others."

"Yes we are Rono." Said Chiyo, Tomo and Osaka.

"Why?" They all asked.

"I want to get to know all of you better, I had the curiosity of finding out what kind of people you all are. So I'm deciding on inviting you all for ice cream and maybe we can go to the mall to walk around or something.

"Free ice cream? I'm in!" Tomo said as she has her fist in the air.

"Sounds like fun!" Chiyo said.

"Yeah, what about you Osaka?" Yomi asked Osaka.

"Yeah sounds like a lot of fun." Said the almost spaced out girl.

"Great, it'll be a lot of fun! Although, the first thing we have to do before all of that is to study hard for our first test!" Rono said.

"Right!" They all said.

"I don't know about Tomo though, how did she even get to this high school in the first place?"

"Hey!" Tomo yelled.

So after a slightly uncomfortable class with Kimura, Rono and the others walked out of the school, through the gates and off to their house they go. Questions then develop in Yomi's head as to why Sakaki and Rono weren't with them the last time they all walked home. The first thing she looked at were Rono and Sakaki themselves. She can see a pink shade around Sakaki's cheeks, it is obvious that she is blushing towards something. Yomi noticed that the two were certainly close to one another, right beside each other, and thus the questions begin to roll in.

"Hey Sakaki, I have always wondered; why weren't you with us the last time we walked home together?" Yomi asked.

"Uh." Sakaki said unsure what to say.

"Oh that, that is going to be a long story to tell to you all. However Chiyo already knows what was going on." Rono said.

"Really when did you tell her?!" Tomo exclaimed.

"This morning." Chiyo said.

"Is the information top secret?" Osaka asked.

"Not exactly, but it's something we have to clear things up between all of us." Rono replied to Osaka.

Then once again, he explained the whole situation from the day before just like with Chiyo in the morning. Surprised faces appeared during the explanation the whole time. Yomi, Tomo, Osaka and even Sakaki blushed when it came to the part when Rono slept with Sakaki in the same bed. Of course Tomo asked if he did anything weird to Sakaki when they were sleeping, of course he didn't.

"It must be a romantic moment for you two." Osaka said.

"Don't really know much about the word 'romantic' but I guess you can call it like that!" Rono said with a happy expression.

They all had more questions about the 'sleeping in the same bed' situation, but the only problem was when they saw Sakaki looking at the ground in a slight shade full of red on her face. It would be better for them to not say anything else about it.

"It's getting dark, we should head home a bit faster don't you think?" Rono informed.

"Yeah...we should." Said the stuttering Sakaki.

Just like everyday, Yomi, Tomo and Osaka split up to go to their neighborhood where their houses are located. The only ones that were now together are Rono, Sakaki and Chiyo.

"It's been a day since I've been to my house, I kind of miss it." He says as they got closer to Rono's apartment building.

"I'm tired now all of a sudden *yawns* see you all tomorrow."

"See you Tomorrow." They both said at the same time to him.

"Wait that reminds me."

He walks over to the both and asks them a question he forgot to ask when that were walking.

"Is it okay if I ask you two for your phone numbers? Just in case if any future plans change or if we want to talk with each other over the phone and stuff."

"Sure." Sakaki replied.

"I can't, I don't have a phone sadly." Chiyo said in a sad expression

"Oh well, tell me right away when you do get a phone okay?"

"Okay."

Rono gives his phone to Sakaki so she can put in her number on the contacts list. (At this period, people still use flip phones!) She gives it back to Rono with the Sakaki's phone number. He opens up the messenger application to test out if it works or not. When the message is sent, Sakaki takes out her phone to check the message.

Is Sakaki there? -Rono

She texts him back with a message.

Yes, I'm right here Rono. -Sakaki

Turns out that they have the right number after all.

"Alright all set up. Have a safe trip back home and you two." Rono said.

"Alright, good bye!"

He goes up the stairs of the building and opens the lock of his apartment. He takes a shower first, eats after and then he brings his stuff into his room and starts to study with just the lamp turned on. After an hour of studying, he turns off the lamp, goes on his bed and sleeps soundly after a tiring day of school.


	7. Test Day

Test day

A new day has finally started and also a new event has started for everyone in school, it is finally their first test day. Those who studied are the ones with pure confidence. Those who didn't are going to have a tough time figuring out the answers for the test. Sakaki woke up slowly, she wanted to sleep for five more minutes but soon remembered what day was it today. It is the first day for her test in Highschool, it is also the day when she and her friends are going to hang out after school. The tall girl of the group quickly grabbed her phone to text her first friend she had ever had. Rono never said anything where they were going to meet when he announced the event to all. She starts to text him a message while in the bed still covered from her bed sheets.

(Bolded text with the name is said in messenger app.)

 **When are we going to meet?** -Sakaki

She starts to wait for his reply but she highly doubts that he'll answer back this early. In a few, he answers back with a reply.

 **Hey Sakaki.** -Rono

 **How's your morning?** -Rono

 **Good so far, where are we meeting? We have to go home to change out of our school uniforms after school first.** -Sakaki

Rono lies down in his bed still covered in his sheets texting her friend. He thinks about the place they are going to meet, he wants them all to meet by his house. The thing is that he thinks about is that his house is a bit farther away from where Yomi, Tomo and Osaka live. He is a bit unsure at this point.

 **Idk** -Rono

 **Let's decide when we get back to school Rono.** -Sakaki

 **Okay. See you by Chiyo's house!** -Rono

They both close their phones, get out of their beds and go to their closets to change into their uniforms. Sakaki goes downstairs to the kitchen where her mom is making breakfast for her with Sakaki's bento for lunch at the table. As for Rono, he cooks his breakfast on two pans on the left side with two stoves. For the other two on his right, he cooks up his bento for lunch. They both leave for school and they walk to Chiyo's house to meet each other.

 **At Chiyo's house...**

The two walk to the planned destination where they planned to meet. Sakaki was first to make it there, she lives just a block away from Chiyo. Rono took a while since he was cooking two things at the same time. Walking in a hurry hoping to not arrive after Chiyo comes out of the house, he finds Sakaki outside of her house looking at her phone appearing to be texting, most likely him. Before she sends the message, Rono walks over behind her quietly to scare her a bit. Until he gets the message and looks in his inbox.

 **Are you coming?** -Sakaki

Rono decides to text her back by saying this.

 **Look behind you...** -Rono

Shocked at this reply, she decides to look behind her but something happens. Someone touches both of her shoulders.

*Sakaki gasps*

"Hey Sakaki." Rono said.

"Rono!" Sakaki said in surprise.

"Did I make it in time, Sakaki?"

"Yeah but more importantly, why did you scare me like that!?"

"Well I couldn't help myself I guess." He chuckles as he rubs the back of his head.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped. Anyways, have you decided where we will meet at after school?" Sakaki said.

"I was thinking outside of my house but it seems to be far from where the others live. So I am still thinking about it."

"You should really think through your plans before even announcing them." She said with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Well, don't worry about it, we'll discuss it with the others at school." She said in a happy expression.

"Right!"

The gates finally open from Chiyo's house, the little girl was already by the other side of the gate from the inside. She then gets surprised when she finds Rono and Sakaki right outside of the gate waiting for her.

"Oh good morning Mr. Rono and Miss Sakaki!"

"Morning." Said both Rono and Sakaki.

"Ready for the test today Chiyo?" Rono asked the little girl.

"Yeah! I studied hard last night!"

"Right on!" He said as Chiyo giggled.

Just a giggle from a little girl caused Sakaki to blush because of the cuteness.

While Rono, Sakaki and Chiyo walk to school, Yomi, Tomo and Osaka already made it to class before them. They live closer to Cherry Blossom High School, it is just 2 blocks closer. The location where both Tomo and Yomi live are actually close! Tomo just lives across the street from Yomi's house. Sometimes at night, Tomo goes to Yomi's backyard and knocks on her window to get inside so she can hang out with her if she were still awake. If Yomi accepts, she opens the window even though she doesn't want to. Besides, it can't be helped can it? However for Osaka, she lives farther away from the two. If she's lucky during the morning, she can somehow find them walking to school.

Now in the homeroom class, Yomi, Tomo and Osaka are found with three desks facing in a single group. As usual, Osaka is found spacing around and the other two start talking.

"I can't wait for the free ice cream Rono is gonna give us!" Tomo exclaimed.

"Can you please stop jumping around you're causing a scene." Yomi scolded Tomo.

"Sorry, can't help it."

"Is there ever going to be a time where you act normal, that's the reason why boys don't ever catch their eye on you."

"Hey now that we're talking about boys, haven't things between Sakaki and Rono becoming strange all of a sudden?"

"Now that you mention it, they have! Besides with the sleeping in the bed incident, they've gotten a lot closer recently. Do they have feelings for each other?"

"I highly doubt it if we're talking about Rono, but for Sakaki, we barely even know anything about her. Looks like the whole hanging out thing really is something good."

"Yeah but..."

Yomi is then stopped by Osaka commenting on something.

"Maybe they have known eachother way long ago."

Surprised expressions had shown on Yomi and Tomo's faces. It is the first time that Osaka said something that makes sense and reasonable.

"What made you think that Osaka?" Yomi asked.

"Oh no, I was just saying what was in my head." Osaka smiled.

"Well, even Osaka has a point. It also believe able too, just like the way Sakaki acts differently around Rono and also how much time they hang out with each other! We should ask them just to make sure."

"Yeah good idea but..."

"But what?"

"Rono doesn't know what occurred in his childhood life in Japan. So, it's better if we ask Sakaki first."

"Then it's set." Tomo ended the conversation at last.

Just shortly, Sakaki and the others finally made it to the class. The first thing they did was greet their friends that were sitting in a group of three. For today, each one of them sat by themselves so they can study a bit before the test. That way they can refresh their minds a little, even though they already know the answers by memory. After a while, Rono did not feel like studying anymore. He then look over to his left find Sakaki studying exactly the way he had studied on the vocabulary part.

She studies exactly how I do...what a coincidence. Rono thought.

After seconds, Sakaki immediately noticed Rono looking over at her.

"Um, what is it Rono?" She asked.

"Oh nothing, you seem to study the same way I do on the vocabulary part." He responded back.

"Isn't that right?" She said in a lowered voice.

 **Flashback...**

It took place sometime in the evening, the sun had just a few hours to set. This memory took place after school from elementary school. Of course, Sakaki and Rono had the same school and class they attended to. The young boy came over to her house so they could study for the upcoming test the next day. At this age, he knew exactly how to study the right way. All by taking notes, sometimes flash cards and even reviewing some of the books he had to read from school. The kid was a huge bibliophilic before he met Sakaki. In other people's eyes, he looked like a highly intelligent kid, even though he is.

Sakaki had a bit of trouble with her academics on some subjects. Sometimes she would get B's and A's which isn't bad at all, but she knows that she can do even better by getting straight A's. At the time, Rono was the smartest of the two. So she asked him for help and advice on how can she improve her academic skills, especially when it comes to memorizing words along with its definition.

"Hey Rono."

"What is it?" He asked.

"You're smart at every subject right?"

"I guess so, why?"

"Could you help me how to study the right way and also how to memorize the words easier?"

"Okay, there really isn't a right way to study. It all depends on how the person wants to study."

"Really, oh well." She looked half depressed to the response."

"Actually I do know another easier way to study with every subject and vocabulary, it will take some time but it'll be worth it." He smiled which causes her to smile in relief.

Rono gave her the biggest and most useful tips in her life. For vocabulary importantly, he recommended he to first know all the words from part by part. Then after she is done with that, he says remember the words by order without looking at the paper and find the definition. This gave her an easier time with her academics in school, and thus, the result has given her her natural academic school even on present day!

 **Flashback ends...**

Thanks to you, I got to achieve some of my goals. She thought.

Before they knew the school bell rang, everyone sat back down to their assigned seats and waited patiently for their homeroom teacher to arrive. Shortly, Ms. Yukari got inside with the tests in hand. She puts the stack of paper on her desk and greeted everyone.

"Good morning class, we will take the test right away after I take attendance."

She did so by calling out everyone's names on the attendance sheet. After that, she goes around to give people the test. Before anybody answered a question from the test, Yukari commented to the whole class.

"I really hope you all studied this past few days here, otherwise you won't be happy with your grade."

Right after, everyone started the test quietly. The test wasn't all that hard in the first place. All it had were a few questions of 'Who said this quote?' and 'What do these words mean?' Most of the students in the class felt confident with their answers, while some didn't study at all. Later everyone got finished with the test, it was easy due to the amount of chapter they had read.

Yukari then collected the tests from her students. She walks up to her desk with the tests in hand and quietly corrects them that way she wouldn't have to grade them during the weekend. Due to this, she lets everyone with free time until class ends. Right before class ended, Sakaki quickly asked Rono if he knew where to meet after school for the mall. He then replied that he was still thinking about. The answer would have to come during P.e. At last, the school bell rang, every person in the classroom went downstairs to the locker rooms for P.e.

The temperature outside was fairly hot today, which meant it is still summer. Well for this month, next month will be autumn. We have a very long month until Fall hits Tokyo. For P.e, the students will now officially play volley with an actual court. Which meant people would have to form teams, it will result in team versus team. The downfall of this is that the number of members per team is two.

This time for teams are paired up as Sakaki with Rono, Yomi with Tomo, Kaorin with Chiyo, Tod with Osaka. All was going fine until people found out that Rono got paired up with Sakaki. For people who wanted to play competitive should might as well give up now because with a team with Sakaki, it's practically impossible to beat her team. She is highly known for her natural athletic ability, even with out giving it her all, she still beats them all! What people don't know, is that Rono was highly know for his athletic ability in middle school back in America. It may not look like it but they'll have to see it with their own eyes to believe it. Now that we have that out of the way, let's continue with the first game with Sakaki and Rono.

First game is Sakaki and Rono versus Yomi and Tomo. Right when Yomi when got on the court with the opponents on the other side of the net, she glanced over on who the team was and then without hesitation she walks away.

"Hey where do you think your going!" Tomo shouted.

"There's no point on playing if there's a team like that." Yomi responded.

"So your giving up?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Tomo grunted as Yomi walked away, then it hit her.

"Well at least I'm not fat as a sumo wrestler."

As Yomi heard this from afar, she runs down to her with eyes full of fury.

"What-did-you-say-To-mo." She said angrily.

"Oh nothing, just saying how BIG your chubby stomach is!"

"That's it, I've had it you!"

Rono and Sakaki couldn't believe what they were witnessing, two friends talking trash to each other. Otherwise, it's still normal anyways. Now that things had calmed down a bit, the game finally started as Tomo was the first to serve the ball. Tomo thought this would a "piece of cake", turns out, she was wrong. Sakaki would always hit the ball to the other side, same with Rono. The thing that surprised people who were watching them the most is how Rono smashes the ball to the other side very hard and swiftly. This gave other people a good impression of his athletic skills. In reality, he never worked out to get his skills but he only worked out so he could get fit. Although just to loose most of the fat but not to get much muscle.

"I can't believe this, how can Rono be that quick. It like he some kind of super human." Tomo said.

"Or maybe he could actually be a cyborg." Osaka said with her finger pointed up.

After the whole game, the group went back to their homeroom to complete a few other tests from other subjects. It gave them a little bit of stress, but it soon melted all away as the school bell rang. Now what was left to do that day is to go to the mall. The only problem with this is, where are they going to meet. Since waking up, Rono still hasn't decided where to meet before the mall.

As most of the girls in the group got inside to the girls locker room building, Rono was stopped by someone. It was the tall dark-haired girl Sakaki, she stopped him by grabbing his hand looking at the ground. The reason why he was stopped by her was because she had to ask something really important to him.

"Huh? Oh it's you Sakaki, what's up?"

"Have you decided what place to meet at before we go to the mall?"

"Oh, uh...ill tell you all before we leave. Make sure to tell the others to wait for me at the school gates, I'll tell you where we'll meet!" He said as he ran down to the boy's locker room building.

 **In the girl's locker room...**

In the room, the air surprisingly smells fresh than the boy's locker room. Although the girls were covered in sweat, due to the heat of the weather. However, for some of the girls who tried their all during P.e are tired out. Almost every girl in the room said the exact words anyone would say after a tiring day.

"When I get home, I'm going to take a long and soothing bath right away!" Says almost every girl.

Some of those girls that didn't said those exact words decide to take a shower instead. Those girls are Yomi, Tomo, Osaka, Chiyo and Sakaki.

"Hey Yomi, you do you know where we'll meet after school before we go to the mall?" Asked Tomo.

"How will I know, wait..now that I think about it, Rono hasn't told any of us where to meet."

"Should we ask him before he leaves?" Chiyo asked.

"Rono is told me to tell you all to wait for him at the gates." Sakaki said.

"Yeah, we should hurry though." Tomo said.

"Why?" Chiyo asked.

"Boys change into their clothes faster than girls, plus they also pee faster." Tomo said in a straight face.

"TOMO, DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT STUFF IN FRONT OF CHIYO!" Yomi yelled out.

 **In the boy's locker room...**

Rono is just about finished changing into his clothes, all he has left is to put on his socks and uwabakis. Tod is beside him still changing into his uniform, he sees something odd about Rono. He looks a bit confused about something. It could be about something about where to meet but there's something else that's been bothering him the whole day. The fact that the image of the park in his previous dream is indeed real. The swings are exactly the same, it had the same landscape, the same location of trees and even the same pair of swings. On those swings had the mysterious girl who didn't show her face because it was too dark.

"Hey Rono."

Rono quickly turns around to find Tod right beside him. He now had his uniform on with his suitcase and everything else.

"Something bothering you?" Tod asked in a confused state.

"I-it's nothing."

"Alright, see you on Monday!" He walks away and thinks to himself.

 _Finally, the weekend has finally come._ He thought.

Rono stands up from the bench, walks over to the exit of the building and makes his way to the school gates. First thing he does is to go to the lockers for his outside shoes. He opens it up, takes out his shoes, puts his uwabakis back in the locker then until Monday it will be used again. Last, he put his outside shoes on and finally gets out of the school. In front of him, his friends are found talking to each other by the school gates. Walking towards them, they immediately look at his direction to find him waving at them. As he walks closer, one of the girls blurted out something.

"Hey how come you took so long, are you actually a girl all along." Tomo exclaimed.

"Keep that up and you'll be the one without ice cream." Rono replied back which now caused Tomo to gasp.

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me almighty Rono!" She begs as she is worshipping him.

"Don't worry, I'm only kidding hehe."

"Really, grr." Says the angry Tomo.

"Anyways...we forgot to ask you. Where are we meeting?" Yomi asked.

A moment of silence has once again occurred after the question. The girls were curious what made him silent for a minute there. The quiet moment finally broke as he replied back with the location.

"I...was thinking about meeting...at the park." As he said this, he looks at the ground.

"Which one?" Sakaki asked.

"You know...the park we pass by every day."

"Oh that one, I remember it very well." Osaka said.

"Probably because we pass by it every day Osaka." Yomi told Osaka.

"Alright, we meet at what time?"

"4 o' clock." He said.

"Okay, then it's set!"

They all began walking to their houses with each other just like every day. The last thing that was different during the walk was the fact Rono looked at the park oddly. Nobody noticed but Yomi herself, she really began to suspect that Rono and Sakaki might of potentially known each other back then.

Just like any person would do before an event, they all went home to take a shower immediately. Everyone but Chiyo have told their parents a day before the event starts. Reason why is because Chiyo didn't have a phone, her parents already told her that she would get one as she turns at least twelve or thirteen. In her eyes, being the child prodigy in high school can blow.

Rono took the quickest shower than the others. He dried himself up then he puts on his everyday clothes for the first time this week! After all of that studying, he still had his uniform on! After finishing, he goes out his door, down the stairs of the apartment an then he makes his way to the park that's just five blocks away from his house. It takes usually at least 15-20 minutes to get their from his house.

Finally he's at the quiet and lonely park. It did not seem anybody was there at the time. It turns out that he's the only one who was at the park, not to mention that he was twenty minutes earlier than the time he had planned. So he explored the park a bit by walking around. There really wasn't anything eye catching beside the fact that there was beach only two minutes away and a long walk way around from the park to the beach. All there was is just a slide, monkey bars, a geometric dome, a merry-go-round and finally last but not least is a pair of swings.

After exploring a bit, he checks on his phone just to as 15 minutes have past since then. He decided to kill some time by sitting on one of the pair of swings. As he gets closer to it, something starts to develop in his heart. Something that makes you feel very uneasy as if somehow something is going to happen next. When sat down he soon became lost in his thoughts. Without knowing what been happening outside in the real world. He was daydreaming about the same dream he had the first day he went to Japan.

Five minutes have passed and one of the girls actually showed at the exact time that Rono said to be at. That girl is the one and only Sakaki, at first, she was shocked at the fact that this is the location Rono had insisted on meeting. This is the place that brings back so many fond memories. It is also the place where she and Rono had first met. She shrugged it off as it being too emotional for her in away. Soon as she began to look for her first male friend, she found someone sitting on one of the pair of swings. It was no doubt that it was Rono, barely anybody even plays here anymore. Considering that most of the kids in the area are now in their teenage years.

Walking closer, it should of been obvious that you can hear that someone is walking behind you if you were in the situation. Things were now getting suspicious, she walk closer to him and then sits on the empty swing next to him. His eyes seemed to be lifeless, the same lifeless eyes he had just like the time he had when he fell on his head. She shook his body and started saying his name.

"Rono..Rono..Rono!" She said loudly as she shakes him.

He gasps for air, for sure he snapped out of it. Rono looks around and finds Sakaki at his left side.

"Sakaki..." He said quietly.

"Are you alright?" She said with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, I was...daydreaming or something. Are the others here yet?"

"Not yet, I'm the only one here. They'll probably get here in five minutes."

As they waited, just like she said, they all came five minutes after. All of them had casual clothes, finally out of their uniforms. None of them didn't seem to like the idea of the uniform having to force you wear a skirt, all except Chiyo. Which is why none wore a skirt this time, instead, a pair of jeans or shorts for some.

"Hey guys we made it!" Chiyo yelled out.

"You all ready?" Rono asked.

"Yeah let's go! Free ice cream, here we come!" Tomo shouted out with her fist in the air.

The location of the mall wasn't far from where they were. It all took at least ten minutes to get there from the park. On the whole way, Sakaki was constantly thinking of just why Rono thought of meeting at the park.

On the first stop at the mall, the girls wanted to go shop for some clothes for girls. So, they did along with Rono. When they got inside for a few minutes, a few girls in the shop began to gossip about Rono.

"Why is that guy in here?"

"Don't tell he's trying to hit on those girls." She commented.

Although he did hear them, but it didn't stop him from having a good time with his friends. As a result, only some of the girls ended up buying clothes. Tomo for example, she bought two bags full of clothes. Now it was about time for Rono's turn decide what store to go next, his decision was the library. All of them agreed except for Tomo, she thought of it as a waste of time.

As they went inside, the first thing that the boy did was go to a book shelf, pick a book and read a bit. Sakaki, Chiyo and Osaka did the same as him. Yomi took a bit longer than the others. The book she was searching for is a book with diet tips. She gets embarrassed when it comes to weighing herself on the physicals. Nobody calls her fat but she considers herself somehow "chubby", the good thing is that she isn't obese in any way. The only person who does tease her of her weight is Tomo.

The energetic girl finds her looking through the diet book and snatches it out of her hands.

"Well well well, what do we have here? A diet book huh, wait until I show the others." She had an evil grin on her face.

"Tomo give that back to me now!"

"Shhh." The librarian hushed.

"Sorry." Yomi whispered.

"Seriously, give that back to me or else."

"Or else what."

Meanwhile Rono got bored of the book he was reading so he desires to go to different shelf to get a different one. One that catches his eye and meets his taste.

"I'll be back, I'm going to get a different book." Rono whispered.

"Okay." Sakaki nodded.

Just as he thought that everything is going to be fine, he finds Tomo and Yomi talking to each other from afar. It seemed to be a normal conversation but things quickly changed.

"Hey it's Tomo and Yomi."

He looks at them a bit and figures out that something is wrong. The two were actually arguing about something. The next thing they both do is unpredictable, Yomi body slams Tomo!

 _What the?_ He thought.

Rono runs over at the area to stop the two.

"Hey what going on here." He said in a quiet voice.

"She took away my diet book." She gaps when she realizes what she just said.

"Forget what I said."

"Don't worry about it, I won't tell anyone. Just stop restraining her."

She leaves Tomo alone and looks away.

"Ow thanks a lot Yomi."

"Come on, a girl like you shouldn't be left on the ground."

He offers his hand to her so she can get up. She blushes as he says the statement.

"T-thanks."

"I don't like it when you both fight, let's go get some ice cream."

"Really!? Ice cream here we go!" She yelled out.

"Shhh." The librarian once again hushes the energetic girl.

"Sorry."

After that, Rono tells the others that they are going to get ice cream. They all leave to a nearby ice cream shop. Each one of them asked for their desired flavor of ice cream. Most of them got vanilla flavored but Tomo and Rono got different ones. Rono got green tea flavored and Tomo got chocolate flavored. The group all sat down on bench outside to eat their own ice cream. Chiyo really enjoyed the ice cream so much that she was the first one to finish it all.

"Woah Chiyo, you finished the whole ice cream like it was nothing!"

Chiyo giggles.

"The ice cream is very good, thank you Rono for the ice cream!"

"You're welcome Chiyo." He smiled.

Shortly after, the group of friends finished the ice cream.

"We should get going, it's already 5pm."

"Yeah let's go home." Sakaki said.

As always, Yomi, Tomo and Osaka go to their neighborhood while Sakaki, Chiyo and Rono go to the other. It was a quiet walk the whole time, when they got closer to his house he decided on something.

"I think it's better if I walk you both home, especially Chiyo."

"Oh no, you don't have to it just a few minutes ahead." Chiyo replied back.

"Remember Chiyo, anything can happen in the dark."

She gulps when she hears this again.

"I'll go too." Sakaki said.

"Good, let's go."

A few minutes later, the three made it to her house. Chiyo presses on the intercom and says that she came back. The gate opens and the door from her house opens as well. In the door way her mom is seen beside the intercom.

"Thank you so much for walking my daughter home!" She says in the intercom which is heard by the other intercom where Rono and Sakaki are at.

"You're welcome." They both said as they pressed on the intercom by the gate.

The gates close and all it leaves is just Rono and Sakaki. They both walk back to the direction from where they walked from. When they both got to Sakaki's house, she receives a call.

"Who's that?"

"My father."

"Well, we're here. Might as well answer it."

She opens up her phone and answers.

"Hello?"

"Sakaki, where are you?" He opens the curtains to look in front of the house.

"I'm right here." She looks at his dad who was now looking out the window.

Her dad sighs in relief as he goes to open the door.

"Bye Rono."

"Bye Sakaki."

"Hi Mr. Sakaki!"

"Hello Rono."

She get inside the house as Rono heads his way to his apartment building.

"So Sakaki, how was your day?" Her dad asked.

"It was fun."

Then her mom get in the room to ask her a question.

"How are things between you and Rono?"

"It's going alright, I think he's starting to remember things a bit, but...he still doesn't remember me yet."

Her mom hugs her as well as her dad, it is now a group hug.

"Don't worry my dear, don't ever give up. Things _will_ go back to normal, I promise you that." Her mother said.

"Thank you mother and father."


	8. For Old Time Sake

**For Old Times Sake**

1:00 pm

It's a warm day outside, just right to stay out a little for a whole day. Here we have Rono in his apartment reading one of the books he brought back from America. He's already halfway from finishing it all. It just been a week since he's been living in Japan! Sometimes he decides to stop reading from time to time, that ways he doesn't rush through the whole story. Right as he stopped reading, he had nothing to do at this time. Though he can watch the television but he wasn't that much into television. Sometimes he watches anime on television just to kill some time, but he rarely watches it. All the time he spent in his life on was school, reading and cats.

He goes over to his nightstand to pick up his phone. Directly goes to the messenger app and texts his friend.

 **Sakaki** -Rono

Just waiting a few seconds was all it took for her to respond.

 **Hi Rono** -Sakaki

 **What are you doing**? -Rono

 **Nothing much, what about you?** -Sakaki

 **Nothing I'm bored.** -Rono

 **Same as you.** -Sakaki

A short pause waited between the two, it was then broken by Rono.

 **Have any plans for today?** -Rono

 **No, why?** -Sakaki

 **Wanna hang out at the mall?** -Rono

Sakaki surprised at the request, she thinks about it at first.

 **Okay but let me ask my mother first.** -Sakaki

 **K** -Rono

Sakaki goes down the stairs and runs over to the kitchen. Her mother is found in the kitchen making Sakaki lunch, which is a sandwich.

"Mother?"

"Hello dear, you're just in time for lunch."

"I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"I-Is it all right...if...I..could hang out with one of my friends?"

"Sure, who is it?"

"I-it's..Rono."

"Oh, is he starting to remember?"

"No, not yet, he said he had nothing to do so he invited me over to go to the mall with him."

"Oh..well okay, but eat first my dear."

"Thank you!" She said in a cheerful tone.

She goes up to her room first to get her phone that ways she could tell Rono that she would be coming. Of course, she has to eat lunch first then she can leave. When finished, the first thing she does is to go upstairs again, get different clothes, prepares herself by getting her wallet and the phone. Sakaki goes downstairs and goes to the front door.

"I'll be off! Bye mother! Bye father!"

"Goodbye!" They both said.

"Make sure to be careful!" Her dad said.

"Okay."

She closes the door and opens the small black gates of her house. Just as she closes the gate, she finds someone beside her. The boy looks at her with his brown eyes, it was Rono.

"Oh hi Sakaki, looks like I'm just in time."

"Hehe, it seems so."

"Let's go."

Time passed and before knowing it they made it to the mall. The mall wasn't as tall as the buildings around but the bright side is that it is three stories tall. Another wonderful thing about it is that there's a kids area and a food court. Around the city were many hotels, many video stores, many cafes, a few casinos and even some arcades with those crane games.

First thing that the two went to were one of the crane games in the arcade. Recently, the owners were putting in new stuffed animals in the crane machines. Most of the stuffed animals are kittens, cats, dogs, puppies and teddy bears. Only Rono knows about this, he heard some of the girls in his classroom talking about it a lot.

 **A day ago...**

"Chihiro!"

"What's up?"

"Have you heard that the owners of that arcade we went to last time have been putting in new stuffed animals in the crane machines?"

"Wow really? Are they cute?"

"They are really cute, you want to go with me this Saturday?"

"I'd love to...but I can't. I have to babysit my little brother at home, both of my parents have to settle some things at work. I'm really sorry."

"Oh, it's okay." She said in a sad expression.

"I'll go next time for sure!"

"Okay."

In the background, Rono is found listening to the whole conversation about the new plushies. For the most part, he felt sorry for the girl who had plans with her friend, that girl is known as Kaorin.

 **Back to the present...**

 _If only I had invited her along to come with us._ Rono thought.

The first crane machine they went to had a few stuffed cats and a whole ton of stuffed dogs. The boy didn't seem to like dogs that much but somehow when he does meet one, he's actually good with them. He wanted either a stuffed cat of stuffed kitten the most. If you ever asked Sakaki which one she wanted the most then it would be a rather difficult decision. Every stuffed animal in the machine were adorable to her.

"Want to go first?" He asked.

"Sure."

She puts in the coin then the crane starts to the area of the stuffed animals. She slowly goes for the only reachable stuffed cat. However by luck, she manages to get a stuffed cat and a kitten as well! In conclusion, she has certainly succeeded.

"Wow that some great luck you got there Sakaki!"

She chuckles and stunned at the lucky catch she just attamepted. Suddenly, a voice of a girl is heard behind them.

"Miss Sakaki?"

They turn around and find out it was actually Kaorin!

"Do you go here a lot?" Kaorin asked.

"Not really."

"I see that you two found out about the new stuffed animals they had put in."

"Only I have." Rono blurted out.

"How?"

"I heard you talking with Chihiro yesterday about the new stuffed animals."

"You have, haven't you." She said looking down.

"Hey Kaorin, do you want to come hang out with us? We're going to the mall after we play a few more of these cranes."

"Really, is that okay with you two?"

"It's fine with me." Sakaki said.

"Thank you so much!" Kaorin said with a now bright expression.

Sakaki ended up winning a lot more stuffed animals than she had anticipated. For the others however, had won at least one. After that, the three went to the mall for some shopping. First for the girls then the second choice for the boy, just to make things a bit fair.

"Which clothing store are we going first?" Rono questioned both Sakaki and Kaorin.

"Let's go to that one right there!" Kaorin pointed.

"Okay." Sakaki said.

"Woah that is a big clothing store there." He commented.

"Yeah,it's a good choice for shopping. There are mass amount of clothing for both men and women. That's also the reason why there is more people in the the store due to the amount of content it has." Kaorin informed.

"So where do we start?" Sakaki asked.

"There are three sections of the store. The first floor which is where we're on is for women's clothing. The second floor is where the men's clothing are at. Last but not least is the third floor where all the babies accessories are available. An excellent place to buy gifts for other people if you ask me!" Kaorin said the last sentence with a wink to both Sakaki and Rono.

"Alright, I'll be on the men's floor if you need me. If you can't find me there, I'm either at the food court or in the babies clothing floor."

"Alright." Both of the girls agreed.

The three of them walked in inside the store just as Rono and Sakaki look inside the store with awe. It was a huge sight, never have they seen a store as big as this. The girls decide to walk Rono to the escalator which lead to the men's clothing floor.

"Bye!" Rono said

"Bye." Sakaki and Kaorin replied back.

It only took a minute for Kaorin to realize that she is now alone with Sakaki. In her heart, she looked up to Sakaki. Which then lead her to develop feelings for her as time came.

"Kaorin."

She snaps out of her thoughts as the tall girl said her name.

"Y-yes?"

"Is it fine if you show me around this place, it's a big store, I don't want to get lost."

"S-sure."

She leads her to the first destination which is the jacket area.

"Here is the jacket area where all the stuff you need for the winter is right here."

Most of the jackets were actually pretty. They were some with different colors, some for dressing into for some place fancy, there were also fluffy jackets for the snow. Alongside with that, there were also winter accessories for the winter too. What was on sale were skiing goggles, scarfs of all kinds, snow boots, gloves, ear muffs, thermals and thermal sweaters. Now that we got that out of the way, she leads Sakaki to a different area of clothes.

"Next is the dress area."

The dress area is where all the expensive and cheap dresses are sold. At this area, it didn't give interest to both of the girls. So they moved on to different area.

"Next is the undergarment sections. Nothing really special here except for the fact that this there are plenty of stuff here and this is also the only place where you can get your own custom bra size."

Sakaki immediately covers her chest area with her face now shaded pink. With Kaorin now noticing why Sakaki did just that, she walks her over to the last area.

"Finally, last but not least is the where the actual clothes are. As you can see, the normal shirts, pants, shoes, slippers and sleepwear can be found here. I'm guessing we should be looking here?"

"Yeah." Sakaki answered back.

Rono is found looking for new shirts and possibly for some new pants too. It was about for him to at least buy some merchandise from Japan again.

"Dang it, most of the clothes here barely have my size." He puts away the shirt.

"If only there were a store with more shirts of my size."

He walks out of the store and starts to walk on the second floor of the mall. At on end of the mall he sees a familiar face. A face that he sees everyday at the school. It was no doubt that it was Tod Fukushima.

"Hey Tod!"

He turns around behind him to find who called out his name. He finds Rono waving at him.

 _Look at that, it's Rono_. Tod thought.

He runs over to Rono and greets him.

"Hey Rono what brings you here?"

"Oh, well, I'm hanging out with Sakaki and Kaorin."

"Sakaki is that tall girl from our class, right?"

"Yep, I presume that you know Kaorin?"

"Yes, we sometimes talk with each other during P.e." Tod replied back.

"Right on, so what made you come to the mall."

"I went to the store to get something for my little sister and also just check out some stuff."

Rono now became curious on how having a sibling feels like. He tells him to sit down on the bench with him.

"You have a sister?"

"Yes I do."

"Wow, I wish I had a sibling."

"What makes you say that?"

"Let's just say...I had tough relationship with other people when it comes to making friends."

"Hmm?"

"I don't exactly know what actually happened when I was still a kid."

At this point, the first thing that came up in Tod's mind was the fact that his friend maybe has amnesia.

"There's no way you can just forget your memories like that! How is that even possible?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that I was always a lonely kid. I never had a friend before, I was so shy that nobody could ever notice me. After a while I got used to it, as if that's how I really am. Even when I was in middle school back in America, I still was the same as back then, not a single friend during those three years."

"Damn, looks like you had it hard didn't you?"

"Not exactly, I still managed to always get good grades. I've even became the only boy with great athletic ability, but that's not important."

 _He isn't the competitive type is he?_ Tod thought.

"So how'd you get to be friends with Sakaki then?"

"Oh that, she just came up to me."

"Weird, that doesn't seem like her. She's usually the silent type according to our classmates." Tod commented.

"The strangest thing of all, I felt as if I already knew her before. I felt confident, calm, happy, relieved and comfortable. I feel all these feelings when I'm around her. I highly believe that I have seen her before once in my life time before high school."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence, don't worry though. I'm sure someday you'll find out for yourself soon." Tod pats him in his shoulder.

"I have to go, I need to make dinner for my little sister back at home, my mom and dad had work to do. It's been nice talking to you, see you at school!" He waved goodbye.

"See ya." Rono waves back then watches him disappear into the distance.

I wonder if the girls are still down there, how about if I go babies' clothing floor. Rono thought.

Now the next destination is the babies' clothing floor. He gets on the escalator and slowly goes up the third floor. At first sight, it is possible to figure how many sections are there for the store. There were three which the first is the clothes, second the accessories and third the toys. He starts to look around at the babies accessory area where there are many cradles and food for babies.

Everything seemed to be fine until he finds a little girl jumping up and down. She had long brown hair that's reached almost halfway of her back. She didn't look too young for her to be a baby, she looked like she could currently be in grade school. The only things in front of her that could be her reason of jumping is the plastic jar filled with baby food. It was the only one so she tried so hard to get it, it is unlikely she would due to the height of the jar which stood four shelves above her.

He walks over to where the girl was at and looks at the jar. He reaches for the jar full of baby food and grabs it. The girl surprised by his action almost said something to him. She was about to give up and walk away in depression.

"I'm guessing you were trying to get this." He hands it to her.

"Huh, uh...thank you so much sir." She said nervously.

"If I may ask, what was your reason for getting that?"

"It's...for my...baby brother."

"I see. Where's your mother?" He asked.

"At home, she told me to buy it for her since she has to take care of my little brother."

"And your father?"

"At work."

He sighs.

"Well, be careful on the way home alright?"

"Okay, thank you for the help!" She thanked him before she ran to the cashier.

What an adorable girl, she reminds me of Chiyo. He thought.

Back to Sakaki and Kaorin...

Both of the girls are about finished with their shopping for clothes. Sakaki didn't get much but for Kaorin however, she bought a dress, three pairs for jeans and five shirts. In result, Kaorin had to carry two bags as for Sakaki, she carried one bag. Even though Kaorin couldn't talk to the tall girl due to the shyness she had around her, she had a great time with Sakaki. Shortly, the both made their way to the escalators which lead to the men's floor to find Rono. Next thing they knew, there wasn't any luck in finding him there.

Sakaki knew that Rono wouldn't leave his friends behind for his needs. The least expected place he would be on is the babies floor. On the men's floor they did the same. It wasn't long to find him, the girls looked in the clothing area and found him carrying something in his hands. That item in his hand are baby clothes for girls.

"Rono what are you doing?" Kaorin asked.

"Oh, I was just...thinking."

"No I meant why are you holding that in your hands?"

"Oh that."

It took him a moment to tell them the reason as of why he had the pair of baby clothes in his hands.

"I've always wanted a little sibling. I always felt lonely at the house, never had anyone to talk to except my parents. My whole life was a quiet one, I've been always alone by myself. If I think back to my middle school life, I don't even know how I got through middle school. Somehow I got along with other people without even trying to. It's as if they saw me as an idol, I'm no idol. Even with some of the school delinquents they got along with me too, of course I didn't talk to many but when it came to P.e, they would invite me to be on their own teams. By the end of middle school, it never occurred to me to have any friends. That's why I was always the lone wolf of the school. I always ate my lunch by myself, work on the projects myself and everything else."

After the long response, Kaorin and Sakaki now felt bad for what he went through in his lifetime. All the support he had were from both of his parents, nobody else.

"I'm...sorry." Sakaki said.

"It okay, that was all in the past. Besides, you all gave me the light of day. I never knew I would ever meet such nice people, in the process it was unpredictable that I would be able to make friends!"

He goes up to both of them and thanks them.

"Thank you so for all you both did to me."

"What did I do?" Kaorin asked again.

"You came to hang out with us, it may not seem that important to you, but to me...it really meant a lot."

"Really. Then you're welcome."

"Glad that I could help you too." Sakaki said.

"Now that that's off my chest, where do we go now?"

After the sad story Rono told them, it was decided to let him choose this time.

"Anywhere you want." Sakaki said.

"Alright, how about." He looks around to find the nearest book shop.

"That book shop, it'll just be quick I promise." He said as he pressed both of his hands together.

During the little trip to the book store, the tall boy bought the book he's been wanting ever since the last visit to the library. The reason why it was never bought by him was because of Yomi and Tomo's argument. When a fight or an argument occurs, he does what ever he can to stop it once and for all. He did just that when it was during his middle school life.

They walk down the hallways on the first floor of the massive mall. Rono looks around while walking, Sakaki looking at the stuffed animal stores and Kaorin constantly looking over at Sakaki while blushing. As they walk past by a photo booth, it gave Rono an idea.

"Hey guys, want to take a photo from the photo booth over there?"

"I-I don't know about that." Sakaki answered.

"Come on, it'll be fun."

He looks over at Kaorin who is looking at Sakaki and says her name causing her to snap out of her own world.

"What about you Kaorin?"

"I don't know."

"Okay I'll do it." Sakaki said.

"I'll do it too!" Kaorin exclaimed.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Rono exclaimed.

The three friends get inside the photo booth and look at the options shown on the screen. There were three options, one for friends, one for fun and last for couples. The third option made the two girls blush, Rono just pressed the button which he chose for the friends option.

"Please choose the type of outline for your photos." The announcer for the photo booth said.

Rono navigates through the different outlines that offers them. None of them seemed to catch their eye except for the last one. There was a kitten photo outline!

"I kind of like this one, what do you both think?" Rono asked the two.

"It's so cute." Kaorin commented.

"Sure." Sakaki said when blushing.

Thus, Rono, Sakaki and Kaorin chose the kitten photo outline for the pictures.

"Smile for your picture, 5...4...3...2...1...smile!" The photo booth announcer said.

It snaps four photos, each photo is different. The first one had Rono with Sakaki, second had Rono and Kaorin, third had Sakaki and Kaorin. On the first photo, Sakaki is found blushing once again not only because of the kitten photo outline, but the fact that she's with Rono in a very close distance; Rono hugs her with one arm as he smiles. In the third photo you could see Kaorin blushing a slight shade of pink on her cheeks as well. Finally on the fourth and last one had the three sharing a picture, Rono holds up a peace sign as he smiles at the camera and Sakaki and Kaorin are found blushing again but smile anyways.

The three leave the photo booth and check out the photos that came out of the slot. The girls look at the photos with themselves and get embarrassed.

"You two look good in the photos." He said.

"Oh no you look good in your photo, I'm no good." Both of the girls said with a blush.

They all start to walk around the mall again while having a friendly conversation about the new stuffed animal store opening up next week. All of a sudden Rono's stomach growls in hunger, it is heard by the girls.

"I guess it's time for us to eat isn't it?"

"Yes it is." Sakaki answered.

As they pass by a nearby food stand, there stood a hunger causing aroma that invaded the air around the stand. It is a mix of pastry and meat, it is no doubt that it is indeed meat buns.

"That smells so delicious!" Kaorin said.

"It decided, we eat here, my treat."

"Oh no you don't have to Rono."

"It's alright, I _am_ the one who suggested us to come to the mall in the first place. Don't worry, take it as a token of my appreciation for you two for spending time with me."

The girls order their own meat buns to the cashier. Surprisingly, they all got pork meat buns. Very delicious for a person on a hurry, but since they weren't, it got ordered with the six pack of meat bun combo. As the the meat buns were finished, it was now about time to leave the mall. Out of nowhere, they were stopped.

"Wait." Rono said.

"What is it?" Kaorin asked.

"Can we please go to one more place, it's a place where I've been really wanting to go for a long time."

"Sure, I have to leave before 9pm though."

"Don't worry it won't take an hour, I promise."

He leads them to the place where he wanted to go to for a long time. It wasn't far but it was five minutes away from the mall. Now they made it, that place was a café. It wasn't any ordinary cafe but a cat café. Rono was extremely excited for this, as for Sakaki she blushes when she starts to imagine all the cats around her. It's been so long since Rono had pet a cat. The number one thing he likes the most are cats and kittens after all.

"Let's go inside." He said.

As they entered the building, the first thing they had to do is check with the cashier.

"Welcome to the cat café, how many people will it be?"

"Three people."

"Alright, that will be ¥1,500 please."

He pays for the girls once again without them noticing.

"Thank you." She puts the money in the cash register.

"Make sure to put in your shoes in the shelves and get the uwabakis from the basket please."

They go through the small hallway, there is a red line on the floor with black letters saying 'don't go beyond this point with your own shoes'. Next to the line is the basket full of the café's shoes. They take off their shoes and put it in the shelves beside them, then they put on the uwabakis and walk through the hallway which leads to the actual café.

"Wow! So many cats!" Rono exclaimed.

There are two sides for the café, one is the area where you can serve your own coffee, the other is where you can feed the cats when it's time or you can play with the cats.

"Let us go get some coffee first, then we'll play with the cats."

The three get the coffee from the counter along with some pastries.

"Come here little kitty." Rono said in a joyful tone.

Kaorin plays with one of the cats with enjoyment. However it isn't easy for Sakaki, every time she tries to get close to one of the cats, they run away in fear. It is not known why, could it be of her tall physical appearance? As Rono saw one of the cats run away from Sakaki, he decides to do something to make things better.

"Here."

He holds the cat in his arms to Sakaki.

"What if it bites me?"

"It's alright, I'll make sure that doesn't happen."

The strangest thing of all, is that when he's about to pass the cat to Sakaki, the cat starts trembling. The reason for the running cats is now known because how tall Sakaki is. The cat thinks that's she's about to harm her.

As Rono felt the trembling of the cat, he calms it down by shaking it a little just like you would do to a baby. As Sakaki drew her hand closer to the cat, the cat was now beyond scared. It all soon changes as she puts her hand on the cat's head, she rubs it softly. At this point, the cat starts to purr and all that fear has slipped away. The cat now trusts Sakaki and treats her like any other person.

"See you don't have nothing to worry about." He said to the cat.

Out of nowhere, the cat jumps out of his arms and into Sakaki's arms. Sakaki had the idea that if she wanted to pet a cat, Rono has to be there with her in order to calm the cats.

For the rest of the day, all went as planned out. Rono enjoyed it a lot, as for Sakaki she enjoyed all of it fully. When 8pm has struck the clock, it was now time to go. Sakaki pets the last cat and all of her friends leave the building with her.

"Hopefully we'll go there again next time, but this time with our friends."

"Yeah, someday." Sakaki said as she looked at the café one last time.

The three friends walk back to their homes but decide to do something quicker.

"Guys why don't we go through the shortcut." Rono suggested.

"What shortcut?" Kaorin asked.

"It's the shortcut through the park. Chiyo told me about it."

"Seems fine with me."

As decided, they walk through the shortcut through the park. The shortcut had wooden fences along the walkway. The ground was just natural dirt of the park, what surrounded them were many Cherry blossoms. When out of the trail, they end up in a grass field with a beautiful scenery I'm front.

"Now isn't that a nice view of of the sunset?" Kaorin said.

"It sure is." Sakaki said.

They leave the park and walk along the street that leads to each of their homes. Kaorin had to split up from them because she lived somewhere different than the other two. All who's left are Sakaki and Rono, obviously. Walking through the street just took a few minutes.

"Sakaki."

"Hmm?"

"Want me to walk you home?"

"If you want."

"Sure."

Both walk to Sakaki's house quietly, not a single conversation developed between. It was kind of awkward considering they were both friends since childhood. Except that Rono doesn't know it yet. At last they made it to her house safe and sound. Sakaki stops in front of the house.

"Rono." She broke the silence.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for all the things you did for me today."

"You're welcome, it's what friends do, right?"

"I guess so."

"Hey, what do you want to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know where we could hang out."

"How about your house? I bet there's a lot of fun things to do there."

"Okay, but I need to ask my mother first before that happens. Wait here."

"Okay."

She gets inside her house to the kitchen to ask her mom the question.

"I'm home."

"Hey sweetie, how's your day?"

"Good...I need to ask you something."

"Sure what is it?"

"Is it okay if Rono can visit us tomorrow?"

"Sure as long as you're okay with it. Is he outside?"

"Yes."

"Tell him to come in the kitchen to have dinner with us, your dad won't be coming back until midnight."

"Oh, how come?"

"Recently on the news, there was a homicide at Yokohama. The body was found five day later when it happened. Your dad has to wait for the body to be delivered to him, that way he can investigate how the victim got killed."

"How does father do it, how can he handle the horrific sight of a decomposing corpse?"

"He's brave, he knows when he should be afraid. After all he was a fan of the horror genre when he was in high school."

"I'll let Rono come in."

First thing she tells Rono is the confirmation that he indeed is able to hang out at her place. She then tells him to come inside to eat dinner, he accepts and comes inside the house to eat a delicious dinner with her and her mom.


	9. Sakaki's House

**Sakaki's house**

It's a warm and sunny day at Tokyo, as usual, it's best to spend time outside. Our main character is already dressed up for his plans with Sakaki. He thinks it's his first time hanging out with a friend at their house. In reality, it really isn't, due to the memory loss of his childhood. Sakaki on the other hand, waits for Rono patiently, but is soon called by her mother.

"Sakaki! Come down and let's cook up some lunch for the the two of you while we're waiting!" She yelled from the kitchen.

"Coming!" Sakaki replied back from her room.

She goes downstairs to the kitchen to make lunch with her mother. For lunch they start cooking ramen. Not the ones from the convenience store but the homemade ramen made from scratch.

Right when they were finished with the ramen, it wasn't long until Rono made it to the house. He presses on the intercom button to let the owners of the house that he is there.

"Hi, Rono Takayama here. Is anybody there?"

Sakaki was first to hear the voice of her friend. She lets her mom know about it and asks her if it's fine to let him in now. She nods and tells her to open up the the door. Sakaki does what her mother told her and replies to Rono on the intercom.

"Hello Rono, let me open up the gate."

She opens the door, walks to the front gate and opens it to let him in.

"How's your day?" He asked.

"Great."

They both walk inside, close the door and Rono gets his shoes off and lays them on the side of the door. Sakaki leads him to the kitchen where her mom is at.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Sakaki, you look nice today."

"Why thank you Rono. We're going to eat soon, all we need to do is let the food cool down. While you're waiting for that you can go with Sakaki and do whatever you want, just don't break anything."

"Yes ma'am, but where's Mr. Sakaki?"

"He's at work." Sakaki answered for him.

"What does he work on?"

"He's a forensic pathologist."

"He has to work on the weekends?"

"Sometimes, my husband is part of the investigation on the recent homicide from Yokohama. The body he is doing the autopsy on barely got delivered to him today at his laboratory." Informed Mrs. Sakaki.

"I'm not surprised, these things happen very frequently around the world. Somebody dies everyday, it's truly sad."

Sakaki and her mother are surprised by his sudden comment. Both stare at him silently eye widened.

"Er..sorry about bringing that sort of thing up. Is it okay if we go up to your room Sakaki?"

"Uh..sure."

They go upstairs to her room while they are waiting for the food to cool down.

"It's been a while since I've been to your room. I've only saw a it for a bit, but I never explored through it."

"You really want to know more about my room? There's nothing interesting in here for you to see."

"I'm sure that's not true, there must be something interesting here."

He looks around her room and something catches his eye. There is a magazine under her pillow of the bed. Without Sakaki knowing why he got over to her bed, he pulls out the magazine. Sakaki immediately notices and silently panics and runs over to her bed.

"Please don't look at that!"

She tries getting it out of his hands but Rono turns around and reads the title.

"Daily Cuteness."

He flips a page of the magazine and finds a picture of kittens in a basket, the other page has another picture of two cats playing with a ball of yarn. After a short stare at the pictures, Sakaki takes away the magazine. She hugs the magazine against her chest and blushes of embarrassment.

"Please..don't read it...it's embarrassing."

"What's so embarrassing about that? Nothing embarrassing about reading a magazine."

"It's not that...it's just."

She pauses for a moment before she tells him the answer.

"I'm..not used to telling people what I like."

"Why not, it's normal."

"You don't understand, everybody sees me as a different kind of person, they see me as a 'cool' and 'tough' person. In all my life I was bigger than the other kids, I wanted to be a cute little girl. If I reveal my obsession to them, then they might make fun of me."

She looks down, her eyes start to develop tears. It was at this point, that she was about to break down in hard and cold tears. Rono notices and puts his hand on her right shoulder. She looks up to his face now surprised.

"Don't worry Sakaki, you should never be ashamed of the things you love. If it comes to people making fun of you, tell me and I'll take care of it.

"How will you do that?"

She was sobbing a bit but wasn't crying.

"Remember the story I told you at the mall, trust me I'll take care of it no matter what."

He decides to cheer her up which resulted him to give her a nice, heartwarming hug.

"We are in this together, I'll make sure nobody hurts you or any of our friends."

She embraced him tightly now feeling better each second.

"Thanks Rono."

It took a whole minute for them to part.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's go eat the ramen your mother made for us."

"Okay."

This moment reminded Sakaki back when they were kids and when things like these happened to them. Sakaki used to be the one to protect Rono from danger, now it is Rono's turn to do the same.

Both walk downstairs quickly, get in the kitchen and find her mother waiting for them on the table. Her mother smiles at them when she sees them come in.

"Hungry?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am." Rono replied.

They sat down on the chairs of the dining table and began eating peacefully.

As they finished with the ramen, Sakaki leads Rono upstairs to her room.

"What should we do?" Rono asked.

"Anything you want."

"Hmm, where do you keep your stuffed animals?"

"Oh, um..I keep them in my closet."

She opens the closet of her room, it shows a bunch of stuffed animals in it.

"A lot of stuffed animals you got there."

He looks around the pile of stuffed animals, then found one that he adores just by looking at it. It was a stuffed animal of a cat.

"Oh my gosh, it's a cat." He picks it up and looks at its eyes.

"Her name is Pama." Sakaki said.

"Pama huh? That's a nice name!" He smiles.

 _Wait, I feel as if I already said that long time ago. Why am I keep on having this feeling in my heart?_ He thought.

"Um, so you give your stuff animals names?"

"Y-yeah, is that wrong?"

"No, not at all, I just think it's cute."

"Thanks."

"You know, when I was America, I found something from the past that even I didn't recognize. It was my stuffed bear, just by hugging it, I suddenly remembered how I always had him with me whenever I was afraid, his name was kiroki."

"That's cute, we have so much in common don't we?" Sakaki said.

"Looks like we sure do. Maybe that'll make our bond even stronger?"

"I think it will, I'm glad we understand each other. " She smiles at him, he smiles back.

"Me too."

They stood there in silence having nothing to do the next minute.

"What do you want to do now?" Rono asked.

"I don't know, anything I guess."

Soon, Sakaki's mother calls both of them from downstairs in the room with that kotastu. Both of the teens walk downstairs and meet her there.

"What is it, Mrs. Sakaki?"

"Could you both please do me a favor?"

They both nod to her.

"I'm have a handful of chores I have to do for the house, due to that, I don't have enough time to get the groceries for next week. I was wondering if you could get it for me, I'll give you the money to buy it for me of course."

"Well do it." Sakaki replied.

"You would?"

"Yeah I'll go with her. Besides, we have nothing else to do."

"Thank you, you're all the best."

And so, Sakaki and Rono leave off to the nearby convenience store by the neighborhood. It didn't take long to get there, just eight blocks away from the Rono's apartment building. In his surprise, he never knew there was actually convenience store by his apartment building.

Inside the store had mostly groceries than home supplies. You have everything you need in the store. There's vegetables, dairy items, sodas and drinks, quick snacks, coffee, school supplies, cleaning supplies and pastries.

A familiar face appeared in between one of the aisles. A little girl with pigtails of orangish hair observes a pack of pencils in her hands. It's our one and only child prodigy, Chiyo.

"Chiyo!" Rono yelled out.

She turns around to see that Rono and Sakaki by her left side.

"Hi Mr. Rono and Miss Sakaki, how are you today?"

"Good." They both said.

"What brings you here?" Rono asked.

"I just realized that I needed more pencils for school, what about you?"

"We came here to do some errands for Sakaki's mother."

"Is there any way I could help?" Asked the pig-tailed girl.

"I guess, we don't have too much to buy but I think you can help find the stuff on the list." Sakaki said.

"I'll do my best!"

Rono splits up the items on the list to three parts. One for Chiyo, Sakaki and Rono himself. With teamwork, anything can be done faster. After that, they all got united together again to spend it to the cashier. It was now time to leave the store and go home.

On the way home, they came across something on the street. It was a cat with gray fur. Sakaki and Rono blushed at the cat in front of them. Usually Rono pets the cats right away, but he felt different about this. He knew that there was something off about this cat. He looks at his eyes and suspects some kind of hostile aura from it. Without suspecting it, the tall girl with long black hair approached the cat.

 _Don't tell me she's going to pet it._ He thought to himself.

"Sakaki don't do it!"

It was too late, right as she held her hand closer, the cat bit her hand. She hasn't reacted as it happened, all that she did was look at the cat gnawing on her hand. It's wasn't long until her hand started bleeding. Without the cat noticing its surroundings, out of nowhere, Rono opens up the cat's jaws, picks it up by the fur on its back and throws it over the fence.

"Disgusting, I need to wash my hands after this." He said quietly.

He looks over at his friend with the slightly wounded hand.

"Are you alright!?" He approaches her worriedly.

She looks at her now slightly bleeding hand.

"Yes I'm fine."

"Does it hurt Miss Sakaki?" Chiyo asked.

"It doesn't hurt at all."

"Let me check your hand."

He looks at her hand now gushing low amounts of blood. The damaged skin now peeled back from the bite. Luckily the cat hasn't bit on any of the major veins, other wise she would of been bleeding mass amounts of blood.

"It's not too bad, but minor." He stands up and helps Sakaki up.

"We need to clean up the wound, who knows what that cat has eaten."

"If only I bought a medic kit, I would of treated her right away." Chiyo exclaimed.

"None of this is your fault Chiyo, go home safely. I have to get Sakaki back home, whatever you do, do not get close to that cat at any costs!"

"I'll follow that, but please let me go with you two." She said with a convinced face.

"What about your parents?"

"They're at work, I'm home alone."

"Well, it's fine I guess, let's go right away!"

When running, it reminded Sakaki of a memory she had when she was younger.

 **Flashback...**

Most of the time when they both play around at the park, it usually ends up in running. When it came to playing a game of tag, Sakaki usually lasts the longest in running away from Rono.

"No fair, there's no way I'll catch you!"

"Not with that attitude you're not!" She chuckles along with Rono.

"How about you try to tag me instead?"

"Either way, I'll always end up catching you in the end shortly."

He sighs in frustration.

"Let's play something else."

"Fine with me." She smiled at him.

Whenever there was a school festival, both of the strong bonded friends would run all the way there. As usual, Sakaki runs faster leaving him running behind her struggling to catch up. He always tries his best to catch up to her. Especially when playing something that involved in physical activity.

Sometimes when Rono's parents came over to visit Sakaki's house for while, Rono plays with Sakaki. Due to their close friendship, it lead Rono's parents to become good friends with Sakaki's parents as well. They had an excellent friendship as well. When it was any of the kid's birthday, the other's would come over to celebrate as well. The dads would drink beer with each other for fun while the moms would talk about random things that happened in their lives.

One time, Rono asked Sakaki's dad for advice on how to become as fast as her. In return, he didn't exactly know how she became the way she is.

"How do I become as fast as Sakaki?" Rono asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

"She always wins every time when we play tag."

"I would tell you if I knew how."

"You don't know?"

"Not a clue, but what I can tell you is this. Always believe in yourself, make sure to work hard in order to achieve that goal, nothing is impossible. Remember that Rono."

"I will!" He said happily.

 **End of flashback...**

The three friends run to Sakaki's house. Mrs. Sakaki opens up the door and the first thing she saw different in all of them was the bleeding hand on Sakaki.

 _Why do I feel as if I already did this before. Never had I actually wanted to run this fast for something in my life. It's kind of fun_. He thought.

With short notice they made it.

"Oh my goodness, what happened to you!?"

"We'll explain later after we treat her."

"Let me get the medic kit, Sakaki, come with me." She runs to the bathroom with Sakaki to get the kit.

First thing they did was wash Sakaki's wound with soap and water. Then pulled out a clean towel to give pressure to the hand to stop the bleeding. After that is done, a clean cotton ball covered in rubbing alcohol is needed to treat the wound that way it eliminates some of the germs. Sakaki flinched in pain as her mother treats her wound with it, soon it went all away in a matter of seconds. Last but not least, her mother bandages Sakaki's hand where the minor cut is.

Chiyo and Rono waited patiently in the living room with the kotastu. Immediately as Sakaki and her mother came back, the two stand up and ask her a question.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

They both sigh in relief.

"Say, I haven't seen you around, are you Rono's sister?" Asked Sakaki's mother.

"Oh no, I'm not his sister!" She replied back as she moved her hand sideways.

"My name Chiyo Mihama, it may not look like it but I'm in Sakaki's class."

"So how old are you?"

"I'm ten years old!" She said proudly.

"So you're a child prodigy?"

"Yes she is." Rono said.

"Well, welcome to the house, we're glad to have you here."

Chiyo giggles in happiness.

 _Oh my, why is Chiyo's laugh so cute?_ He thought.

Chiyo decided to hang out for a bit at Sakaki's house. During the time, Sakaki's mother made green tea for them. Pastries were served also on the kotastu for snacks. Through out most of the day, Chiyo began to chat with them about how the first week of school went for them. The little girl missed her friends from grade school.

After she was done talking about that, Sakaki's father came back from work. He heard some noises from the living room. Three voices are heard, one he knows is his daughter, another is a boy, last is an usual voice which he never heard. It sounded if it were a little girl's voice. Tiptoeing to the door, he opens it slowly then slides out of the way quickly causing the others to look his way.

"Hi Mr. Sakaki!" Rono said out loud.

Sakaki's father sighs in relief.

"Hello Rono."

He looks at the right side of the kotastu and finds a little girl he's never seen before.

"Am I dreaming or did we have another kid?"

"No we didn't." His wife said from the kitchen.

"I'm Sakaki's friend, Chiyo Mihama."

He didn't seem convinced at the response.

"Is she some kid you picked from the park home?" He questioned his wife who was in the kitchen.

"No sweetheart, she's one of Sakaki's friends. Fun fact is she's a child prodigy at our daughter's high school!"

"Impressive, how old are you?"

"I'm ten."

 _My god she's a genius._ Sakaki's father thought.

"Anyways, what happened with your hand Sakaki?"

"A cat bit me."

"It was a stray wasn't it?"

She nods to her father.

"I thought I told you to never pet a stray. I'll let you pet cats but not the ones that live in the streets, things like that just like on your hand can happen."

Sakaki looks down now disappointed.

"Look, the reason why I'm telling you this is to keep you safe. I would give you a cat if I wanted to but your mother is allergic to cats. If you get a house of your own, then you'll be able to do just that."

"Okay."

"Well enough talk from me."

He walks inside the kitchen with his wife in it.

"Hun." He calls her.

"Yes?"

"Have you started cooking?"

"No, not yet. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah but how about we eat a burger from McDonald's with the kids, you deserve a break from making dinner."

"Fine with me."

"Right."

He goes back to the living room to announce the news.

"Change of plans everyone."

They look at Sakaki's dad in curiosity.

"Let's go get burger from McDonalds."

"Oh really now? It been a long while since I've eaten a burger." Rono commented.

"Well now is your chance!"

"I need to let my parents know first." Chiyo informed.

"You can use my phone to call your parents." Rono told Chiyo.

"Thank you."

She calls her parents on Rono's phone. She waits until her parents pick up the call until they finally answer.

"Hello?"

"Mom?"

"Chiyo! Who's phone are you using?"

"One of my friend's."

"Okay. How's your day?"

"Great so far. I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure what is it?" Her mom asked.

"I'm at my friend's house, they asked me if I could go with them to eat at McDonald's. Is it fine if I could go?"

"Hmm, are any of the parents there?"

"Yes."

"I'll let you go, but let me talk to the parents first just to make sure. Don't eat too much."

"Okay."

She hands it to Sakaki's father to work things out for their plans.

"Hello?" Sakaki's father said as he walked out from the living room to the kitchen again.

Chiyo discussed on what was her moms response to the idea.

"What did she say?" Rono asked.

"My mom said that I could go!"

"Awesome, but why is she talking with Sakaki's father?"

"Every Time when any of my friends want to take me somewhere, my mom and dad talk to my friend's parents first to work things out. It's just the same with my grade school friends Miruchi and Yuka!"

"I guess that make sense, hopefully we get to meet them someday."

"I'm sure you both will."

As the discussion ended, Sakaki's father came back in with his wife.

"It's all set up, quick trip to the bathroom before we go anyone?"

He looks at the three high schoolers, it is now assumed that they are now ready to go.

"Alright let's go!"

The family and friends go out the door then into the car to go eat a burger from the fast-food restaurant.

The McDonald's restaurant was somewhere in the city of Tokyo. Since there are no drive-throughs, you have to eat inside the restaurant. Sakaki's dad parked his car in a six story parking building close to the restaurant. When did so, they all went in the elevator down to the first floor that way they can finally go walk outside where allthe markets are.

The McDonald's they went to had two floors. The main floor is where you can take order the meal, you can also sit on the chairs if you wanted to. When you go up the stairs is where the second floor is found, there are only tables with chairs that can you can your meal at, of course there's a bathroom for each floor.

Like everyone does, they order the meal for the family. Regular meals were ordered, all except Chiyo, she ordered a happy meal for kids. As they waited to get called by the employee who has the order they had for the family, Rono felt paranoid. He felt as if something big was going to come up soon. This event is isn't going to be a good one, it will be something life threatening. Never in his life has he felt this before. The heart started racing, he breaks a sweat without moving and starts to shiver in fear. Nobody but Sakaki noticed him in his physical state.

"Rono?" She asked.

He snaps out of it finally now gasping for air until he slowly starts to recover.

"You alright?"

He is now fully recovered and his paranoid self finally gone.

"Yeah."

"What happened?" She said quietly to not let the others know.

"No idea."

"Are you ill? We can go back to the house if you want to." She said worriedly.

"That is not necessary, everything is fine Sakaki, I'm all better now." He cleared things up.

"If you say so, tell me if you need any help, okay?" She winked at him which isn't like her.

"I'll make sure to tell you."

Finally the order of the family has arrived, the employee at the counter calls their number. When the meal has been picked up, they all go upstairs to the second floor to eat the meal. All eat happily except for one. The boy pondered why he felt paranoid down back there. All was going fine, so why the sudden feeling?

 _I just hope...that everyone will be safe when time progresses. I have to focus on my surroundings during school from now on._ He thought.


	10. Swimming

**Swimming**

At last, the start of a new week of school has begun. Most people at Cherry Blossom High School would groan in disappointment due to the fact that they want to stay home and sleep all day. While some people are excited for the second week of school, those type of people are the ones who will get a bright future.

Today was just like any other ordinary day like everyday. The radiant sun is shining over the city, the birds are singing in the morning, the Cherry Blossom trees are still blooming, at the moment the air is clean and crisp when you inhale it and the wind is breezing softly through the atmosphere in the city of Tokyo. The day before for Rono was a great one until the visit of the fast food restaurant. Without knowing that it would arrive, he felt the most paranoid in his life. It was far worse than the time in middle school, before he did the finals, he began to develop stress, until soon after to be comforted and encouraged by his parents.

Rono thinks about the recent event that happened to him this morning. Things went on a whole different turn this day. When he woke up, he received an unexpected call from someone.

 **Flashback to this morning...**

His alarm clock buzzes causing Rono to wake up. He stretches his right arm to turn off the alarm clock with his eyes closed shut. While groaning of getting woken up by a loud noise, he receives a call from his phone. He looks at the screen to see who exactly is calling him. To his surprise, it was his father.

"Dad"?

Immediately, he answers the call from him, it's been a while since he has talked to one of his parents.

"Hello?"

"Rono, it's been a while!" His dad said over the phone.

"Sorry about that, it sure has."

"How's everything going for you?"

"Actually better than in America."

"Really?"

"Yep, what about you?"

"It's been alright and all, but your mother and I missed you a lot eve since you left."

"Oh Really?" He chuckles.

His dad stopped talking for a bit and then revealed the reason why he called in the first place.

"Look Rono, the reason why I'm calling is because I have to tell you something very important. What time is it over there?"

"It's 6am, why?"

"We might take a while of talking, what time do you go to school?"

"At 8:30."

"Good, go eat some breakfast while we're talking."

Rono leaves his phone on his desk of his bedroom and goes to his bathroom to wash his face then goes to his closet to change into his school uniform. He does what his dad tells him. He goes downstairs with the phone in hand and eats cereal.

"Alright I'm eating, what did you want to tell me?"

Rono hears his dad inhaling then exhaling some air through the phone.

"I'm going to Japan again."

"Wow really, how come?"

"But it's not going to be a visit for you, I'll somehow visit you sometime during my stay over there."

His dad inhales and exhales once again before his answer.

"You heard of the recent murder from Yokohoma right?"

"Yes I have, what about it?"

"Apparently, this murder has been done by a serial killer."

Rono's eyes widened as he gasped in surprise.

"The police station back from Japan wanted me to help during the investigation. So I accepted, I'm one of the top ranked police officers in Japan and in America. This killer is a crazy one, he might even kill anyone in his sight if he wanted to. He is identified to be an thirty year-old American man with brown hair. He is 5'7, has brown eyes and has a scar on his hand."

Rono is now feeling uneasy of what's happening.

"When are you coming?"

"Tomorrow."

"Okay...make sure to be careful."

"That's my line! I want you to be careful when you go outside alone with anyone, try to spend less time outside until we capture this guy."

"Why wasn't this announced on the news?" Rono said in a low toned voice.

"The station just barely got the info from a witness. There will be an announcement on television sometime today or tomorrow."

Rono is now worried a whole lot more now, his hands are shaking, he is now shivering too.

"I'll be sure to visit you as soon as I get there."

Later, Rono's mom is heard in the background with his dad.

"Who are you talking to?" His mother asked.

"Rono."

She gasped and then runs over to him.

"Let me talk to him!"

"No, we are having a man talk."

"You always say that, give me the phone!"

Rono is now chuckling and relieved. His parents are the same as ever just like before.

 **Flashback ends...**

Yomi comes back to the classroom from the bathroom, something looks strange to her. One of her friends doesn't look normal, she was talking about Rono. He is found looking at the ground with his hand on the right side of his cheek looking into space. The girl with glasses walk over to his desk and says his name loud enough to snap him out of his own world.

"Rono."

His eyes dilate as he heard her.

"Everything fine there?" She asked.

He yawns before he answers.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a little tired that's all."

"What kept you up last night?"

"Nothing, maybe I ate too much?"

She giggles along with him at his response.

"I know it's none of my business but...did you and Tomo worked things out?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You two were arguing back at our visit to the library. I was worried that something might of happened between the two of you."

"Don't worry, everything's fine. We already made up, Tomo and I sometimes have arguments, pointless arguments to be exact. In the end, we always make up and then apologize. But she never learns." She sighs.

"Oh, I'm glad." He sounds relieved once again.

"But when the time comes to the both of you not working things out, talk to me, I can help."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to ask you Rono."

Suddenly, the homeroom teacher slides open the door and walk to the front desk. Every student in the class sits on their assigned seats and focus on the teacher. In seconds, Ms. Yukari lies her head on her desk without the thought of her mind that she has a class to teach.

"Why can't I have a day off!?" She whines while her head in her arms.

"But it's the second week of school." Tod exclaimed.

"I'll might as well pass back the grades test from Friday."

Out of nowhere, the front door slides wide open very quickly just as there a appeared an energetic girl known as Tomo Takino.

"Holy crap, I'm so totally late! Looks like I'll have to carry the buckets out in the hall way as punishment!" She yelled out to the class.

She grabs the two buckets in the homeroom and fills it with water from the sink of the bathroom. She stands out in front of the door carrying the two heavy water filled buckets.

"Honestly, I didn't care in the first place." Yukari whispered to herself.

"Okay, first up..." She starts calling up the students to retrieve their own grades test.

Meanwhile, Takino is a having a difficult time keeping up the buckets.

"I've always wanted to give this a shot, cuz hey, they just don't send you out in the hallways that often. Alright Tomo, let's set a new record starting...now!"

In the first five seconds, she was on a roll! As ten seconds had passed, her arms started to ache and weaken due to all the weight.

"No, no, not yet."

In the last five seconds, her arms are about to let go of the buckets. It was about time that the buckets filled with water have fallen.

"Ah! There's water everywhere! Someone, give me a towel, napkin, anything!"

Everyone hears her shouting from outside the hallway.

"Ugh, what a noisy brat. Can someone help her clean up her mess?"

"I will!" Exclaimed a boy.

Everyone looked at the student who raised up his hand. He has yellow eyes, dark hair, and his height was average like everyone else's. The eyes of every person in the classroom looked at his direction as he went out the classroom with a few rags in his arms.

 _He seems like a nice person._ Yomi thought.

"Rono!" Yukari called him to get his grades test.

When grabbing the test from her hand, she comments.

"Don't get too cocky just because you already read the book in America."

"Hehe, I'll try not to."

He walks over to his desk just as Sakaki is called after him. She comes back to her desk and looks at her grade.

"Sakaki, what did you get?"

"94 out of 100, what about you?" She asked him.

"100."

"Wow, you're good at English aren't you?" Sakaki asked.

"Yeah, I already read the book back in America. It is one of my favorite books." Rono said.

"I can see why."

"Rono, what was your score for the test?" Yomi came up and asked him

"100."

"My gosh you have a perfect score like Chiyo!"

"What about you?"

"89."

"Not too bad." He said.

"Easy for you to say." She sighs.

"If you want, we can all study together sometime." He suggested.

"Sure."

Something was in Yomi's mind, she was wondering why that boy decided to help Tomo out of all the class. As she thought of that, Tomo came inside the room with the boy behind her. Each went to their own seats and pretended nothing had happened. Yomi could tell that something was off about Tomo. The girl would always come in yelling out to Yomi, but for now, she was quiet and looking at her desk with a blush.

 _Wonder what's wrong with her? Nah, It's probably nothing._ Yomi thought.

"Class! For today we are going to read the next two chapters for The Tales of Two Cities. You know the drill, pair up with a partner and read a paragraph to one another."

 _While I take looong, relaxing nap._ Yukari thought to herself.

"Wait I forgot, Tomo, come get your test!" She commanded.

Tomo came up to her desk quietly.

"Please try your best next time."

"Sorry." Tomo replied.

She went to her spot without saying a word, now she gets her book and pairs up with Yomi as a partner.

 _What's up with her?_ Yukari thought.

From that point forward, all of the students who were studying are done for the day. Next period is Physical Education, a new activity awaits for them. On Friday they were told that this time they will be swimming for two or three weeks. All students in Yukari's room move on to the locker rooms. Many conversations occur in each locker room. Some girls are nervous about how revealing the swim suits will be. Most guys are excited to see what the girls could look like with a one piece swim suit. Both genders are able to swim in the same pool, so there will be worries there.

Tod and Rono are changing into their school swimming trunks. All that they could hear during that, were conversations about how fast they can swim, their muscles and girls.

"You looking forward how the girls will look like?" Tod asked Rono.

"Now why would I be excited about that?"

"You really don't know what I mean do you?"

"Nope."

"Ugh, never mind."

 **At the girl's locker room...**

The girl just barely got inside the girl's locker room. Tomo already had her swim suit under her clothes, all she had to do was put away her clothes. The others were minding their own business until Osaka brought something up just by saying those words.

"Oh my!"

"Huh?" Sakaki wondered.

Osaka was looking at the size of Sakaki's chest.

"An American, there's and American among us!" Osaka said out loud causing Tomo to come over to her.

"She's right, I still can't believe you were in middle school a year before!" Tomo commented.

Sakaki blushes and then runs off in embarrassment to a different bench covering her chest with the towel.

Osaka looks at Tomo's chest.

"What?" Tomo asked.

"You're Japanese."

"What did you say!?"

She thinks it through about her comment.

"Well, yeah, I am Japanese but it's kind of hard for me to accept that."

"There's nothing wrong with being Japanese." Osaka said.

"Okay but what about Yomi?"

Osaka looks over at Yomi on the other side of the room and then her eyes go down to Yomi's chest.

"Hawaiian."

"Hawaiian!?" Tomo yelled out.

"Yeah, it's part of America. Let us do this, we'll split it up into groups." Yomi said.

"First we have Sakaki's group." She faces her.

"Then we have Kaorin and Chihiro's group."

"Is that where we are?" Osaka asked.

"If you asked me, then you would be in Chiyo's group."

"What!?" Tomo shouted again.

"May I help you?" Chiyo asked as she was getting her things off of the table in the middle of the room.

"Just to make things clear, Chiyo would probably get out of your group in a few years." Yomi informed.

"She's right, you might just be able to turn out like miss Sakaki!" Kaorin said to Chiyo.

"Traitor!" Tomo pointed at Chiyo.

"W-what are you guys talking about?" Chiyo asked as she had now idea since she was still ten and she doesn't know about that stuff yet.

After that little talk, both genders are now suited up and go to the pool area where Ms. Kurosawa is waiting. When everybody arrived, the first thing they all did was place their towel on any of the benches or fence. Without surprise, most of the boys glanced at the girls for a bit, then turned around with blushing faces. None of the boys got close to any of the females, except for one named Rono.

"Hey guys!" He came up running to his friends.

Immediately one of the boys noticed.

"Hey Tod, why is he over there?" Asked the boy who helped Tomo in the morning.

"They're friends, it's no big deal."

"He's lucky to be hanging out with Tomo." He said in a low voice.

"What's that you say?"

"N-nothing!"

 **Back to the group...**

"You all excited for swimming?" Rono asked.

"We sure are." Yomi replied.

"Everyone line up so I'll take attendance!" Ms. Kurosawa said.

She calls everyone in alphabetical order from the attendance sheet on her clipboard.

"Alright, everyone's here. Let's stretch first then we jump in the pool. Anyone want to lead the stretches for everyone?"

"I do!" Chihiro exclaimed.

"Nice, I'll leave the stretching to all of you."

With notice, a tall and old person popped up behind Ms. Kurosawa. It was the one and only, Kimura.

"Why don't we go straight to the gym and play basketball?" He exclaimed causing Kurosawa to jump and gasp in surprise. She finds who is the person behind her.

"Mr. Kimura, what are you doing here!?" Ms. Kurosawa said.

"Wait, how about we take a dip in the pool first and then we'll go to the gym to play basketball."

"Not a chance!" She yelled in anger

Our spacey girl raised her hand to ask a question.

"Can we play water polo?" Osaka asked.

Both teachers paused a minute to the question.

"Eh, what does that leave me?" Kimura wondered.

Silence filled the air.

"Anyways, I don't mind you observing. Just don't distract the others." Kurosawa said.

Kimura sits on the nearby bench under the shade with Kurosawa. At this point the students are now stretching along with Chihiro leading them. She teaches them all kinds of stretches to warm up all the muscles in the body. When that's done, they all get into the pool from the shallow side with Kurosawa as for the other people, they jumped into the pool.

"Ah, it's been a while that I've actually been to a pool." Rono said.

"Really?" Sakaki's asked.

"Yep, I was 12 when I went inside a pool. If only there were pools in my middle school."

He notices Chiyo sinking down a tad too much.

"Chiyo."

"What is it?"

"You know how to swim?"

"Not exactly, I know how to doggy paddle!"

"But that's just the beginning of swimming, why don't you ask Ms. Kurosawa how to swim?"

"I'll try."

She tries to swim forward to the ladder of the pool but she struggles too much cause of the inability to swim properly.

"Need help there?" Rono asked.

"Yes please."

Rono chuckles on how cute she looked when she struggled, in a way. He swims towards Chiyo and faces away from her and tilts his head down.

"Get on my back."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah come on.

As she gets on his back, he comments on something for amusement.

"Ugh...I thought you were light...your so heavy that I might sink."

The more he moves towards the ladder, the more he sinks down into the pool.

"No! Don't sink, don't sink, Ah!"

He falls down on the floor of the pool causing Chiyo to get worried and call Sakaki. Holding his breath for twenty seconds and Sakaki is already on top of the surface where Rono is. He decides to scare Sakaki by creeping up behind her and holding both of her arms. He tries really hard to not let out a single sound as he went up. Out of the surface he holds up his arms and slowly grabs her arms in the most surprising way as possible.

"Eek!"

"Got you!"

"Great you're okay. Don't scare me like that." She pushed him lightly.

"Alright I'll stop, where's Chiyo?"

"She's over there."

Chiyo is seen on the ledge of the pool thinking.

"Chiyo."

"Rono you're okay."

"You know, I wasn't really drowning."

"You weren't?"

"No, I was lying about your weight too. I didn't know you would actually fall for that."

"That's very mean Rono." Chiyo said.

"Well, at least I'm not as mean as Tomo. Anyways, did you ask Ms. Kurosawa for help?"

"Not yet."

"Go on before we do the laps in the pool!"

"I will!"

Rono watches her climb up the pool's ladder and walks towards Kurosawa.

 _I really do wish I had a sister._ He thought.

Before the P.e teacher even told anyone to start doing their laps, Chiyo asked for help just in time. She gladly accepted, Chiyo followed her into the shallow side of the pool to practice there. While that happened, every student in the pool would swim back and forth on the lane they were in. One of the first people to finish were Sakaki and Rono, both swam swiftly than the others. Even the ones that were fit and well built on the body. Rono didn't have big biceps like the other boys, it's impossible to believe that he would be so athletic, considering that he was never into sports.

 _I'm surprised that Rono is able to keep up with me now. Just how were you able to do this, was it because of self defense, or was it because someone you hold dear of you wanted to protect._ She thought.

"What am I saying." She shook her head.

"What was that?" Rono heard her mumbling.

"Oh nothing!"

"You want to get some water?"

"S-sure."

They get out of the pool by pulling themselves up from the edge. Both were soaked and dripping water as they walk towards their towels. Both of them dry themselves individually and make their way to the water fountain near the entrance with the towel hanging around the necks. Rono was first to get first sip of water, Sakaki came last to get her's. As she takes a sip, Rono asked her something that he was meaning to ask.

"What do you think of Mr. Kimura?"

Surprised at the sudden question, she lifts her head up and responds.

"Why do you ask that?"

For some odd reason, Rono blushed a little as she faced towards him. He found her to be cute as she had a curious look on her face.

"Well...um." She took a deep breath to calm things a little.

"I feel as if he is going to harm girls."

"I can see why." She replied.

"I don't want that to happen, but somehow I feel that there's a reason for that. A reason that even _he_ doesn't want to reveal." He said as he looked at Kimura from a distance.

Rono faces back to Sakaki still having that curious look on her face. It causes him to blush even more.

 _Why does she look so cute?_ He thought.

"But I feel that he can be a good guy, despite his weird obsessions."

"Yeah, we should get back to the pool." Sakaki suggested.

"We should."

The teens run to the pool area and find Yukari in the pool arguing with Kurosawa.

"How did you get here Yukari?" Kurosawa said.

"I used the extra key you had in your desk!"

"You..used..my..key? What about your class?"

"I turned it to a study hall!"

"You what!?"

"Now that we got that out of the way, let's have a race between you and me, teacher versus teacher!" Yukari suggested with her fist in the air.

"Why would we have a race if you have a class to teach!"

Out of now where, Kimura popped out of the water.

"How about starting today, language and history class will be held at the pool? Now that we're at it, let's start by making all the girls wear bikin-ow!" He was kicked my Kurosawa, she then kicked him out of the pool.

In the end of the argument, both teachers agreed on the challenge. Kurosawa and Yukari got on top of the starting blocks and prepared their starting positions. Every student in the class cheered on to the teachers. Comments like:

"We're rooting for you Ms. Yukari!"

"Let's go Ms. Kurosawa!"

"Show her what you got Ms. Yukari."

"Kick her ass Ms. Kurosawa!"

The crowd turned crazy at this rate.

Chiyo is in charge in starting the race. Since Kurosawa is a coach of the school's swimming team, she is confident in her self. Yukari however, never knew how to swim as fast, she has no idea what she will have to come upon on. The youthful teachers look straight to the opposite side of the pool and focused on listening when the race actually starts.

"3."

"2."

As Chiyo got closer to one, Yukari and Kurosawa tightened their own hands on the edge of the starting block.

"1...Go!"

At this moment, it wasn't long until Kurosawa dove down to the water perfectly. For Yukari, things didn't go as expected. Instead of diving, she slammed the front part of her body on the water causing a slap sound to be heard.

"Ow, that's gotta hurt." Chihiro commented.

Yukari ignored the pain of her body and began swimming. With every stroke that Kurosawa made, she got closer to the other side easily. Yukari managed to get halfway of the pool. Before she even touched the wall, she decided to sabotage her so called 'rival'. She lifts up her left foot up to her left lane where Kurosawa was at to slow her down.

"Interference!" She yelled.

She failed at it, she was too late, because of the sudden movement she made in the pool, she had a cramp on her leg. She screamed in pain as she held on to her foot with her left hand while holding on the lane rope with the other. Of course, Kurosawa won, she also had to pull Yukari out of the pool.

"It is what she gets from trying to cheat." Rono said.

The group nodded to his statement.

"Sorry class for letting all of you go through this with me. I'll make it up to all of you some day. Class is dismissed."

All the students went to the locker rooms to take a quick shower to pour off all the chlorine covered on their bodies from the pool. The bathroom stalls are all occupied and busy due to the amount of students changing. When the boys began to dry themselves up, they started to talk about which girl looks best in their swim suit. Rono wasn't interested in this topic so he hurried himself up to change so he would meet up with the girls.

He got out of the building and made his way to the school's front gate. There stood his friend Sakaki waiting for him. It was only her that was there, none of the other girls. He walks up to her calling her name.

"Where are the others?" He asked.

"They're still changing, they'll come out in a few."

"Great."

They both stood there in silence waiting patiently while the other kids passed by them through the gates.

"Sakaki."

"Yes?"

"This may sound weird but.."

He waited before asking his question.

"Have..we met before?"

Her eyes widen in surprise, could this be a sign that he remembers already? Or might those memories during his years as a child, disappeared?


	11. The Truth

**The truth**

 _At that moment, I thought I would get Rono back from his amnesia. It turns out he still doesn't remember a thing._ Sakaki thought.

The Azu-girls were in Kimura's class, at the moment they were all waiting for class to start. The atmosphere of the class is all happy and talkative, everybody was doing there own thing and all. But there was something off about Sakaki, for any person, it may not look like it but she is sad. Due to the silent type she always kept its hard to tell. Tears haven't shed in the eyes, only depression had shown on her face. She thought she could get Rono back again, the only true and first friend she had in her life. But all that was for nothing now because he doesn't remember a thing from his past now.

 **Flashback to yesterday...**

"Have..we met before?" Rono asked.

"What made you get that question?" Sakaki asked.

"I don't know, ever since I've meet you, I-I've been thinking about something that's been in my mind recently."

He paused then continued again.

"I've never had a friend like you, you're so nice, smart, caring and responsible. I would never of thought that a person like you would be friends with me. In all my life, I've wanted a friend like that, someone who I can trust and spend time with me anytime when I'm lonely. When you came up to me on that roof top, the first time you've ever talked to me, I was easily able to talk to you. Never in my life have I been able to do that! Usually it would end up with me giving you a simple answer and then I would walk away some place with no people in sight."

He sighs and gets to the point.

"In other words, maybe the reason I was able to talk to you was because we might of met somewhere."

"I-I..." She begins to shake a bit.

"Never mind, I think it's just in my mind. Besides, maybe all of that was just a dream, or it could just be me being weird."

"No its not that..." She said in a quiet tone that not even Rono can hear.

Next that happened, Yomi and the others came back causing the conversation to end in a unexpected way.

 **Flashback ends...**

The moment she snapped out of her own thoughts, Kimura got inside the classroom. People thought this was going to be a disturbing class, he could be one of the weirdest teachers they had ever met. The dark aura that was sent out to the students gave them the chills. Instead of suggesting anything to the girls, he tells everyone to turn to a page for the next chapter in the history book.

She looks over at her friend to find him already reading the chapter himself.

"Already reading huh?" Sakaki whispered to him.

"Yep, I find history fascinating, especially ancient Japan."

"Nice." She said in a low tone.

 _He still likes studying just like back then, he hasn't changed at all._ She thought.

After reading a few pages, Kimura gave a break to everyone while he goes to the bathroom. The group gathers around and Osaka is the first to start a new topic.

"Now that we found out about Kimura's obsessions with high school girls, what do you think he thinks about Chiyo?"

At this point, Chiyo starts to shiver in fear from Kimura.

"Why are you asking this to us?" Yomi replied.

After that weird question from Osaka, Kimura came back to the homeroom.

"Alright everyone, it's time to do some work that I have assigned for you."

Some people groan in the background out of laziness.

"Now now, the faster we complete the assignment the sooner we get the rest of the class time to our selves. Make sure to answer questions 1 through 20, most of these are multiple choice so it shouldn't be too hard. You can work in pairs, if you all behave during the the upcoming weeks, then I'll let you all work in groups."

Rono turns his head around facing Sakaki to his left. As always, she is looking out the window thinking about something.

"Sakaki."

"Hm? What is it Rono?"

"Kimura let's us work with partners, want to be mine?"

"Sure."

He picks up his desk and places it next to her's. Now the both of them are now in a pair. In the background, Tomo and Yomi are seen working on the assignment sitting with each other. Tomo looks over to Rono and Sakaki working on the assignment.

"Something smells fishy." Tomo said to Yomi.

"That's probably you." Yomi quickly replied.

"Hey!" Tomo said.

"But seriously, look at Rono and Sakaki." She points at them.

Yomi looks at them for a while but finds nothing wrong.

"What wrong with that?"

"Don't you think they get along too well? Are they dating?"

"I don't think so, they met since last week. Besides, it's too soon to ask someone out this early in the school year."

"Fine, but what if they already met before they even came to this school."

"Now that you say that, I'm actually curious too."

"Should we ask Sakaki?"

"Yeah, why not, but let's ask her in private. Maybe some of that stuff is personal."

An hour passed, the students finished with their assignments and are now granted with free time. At this rate, every person in the class moved seat to sit close to their friends. Like always, the group of friends reunite again. Things changed during the process, Yomi and Tomo told Sakaki they wanted to talk to her in private. In order to do that, they had to talk in the girls bathroom.

They did so by first asking Kimura they needed to go to the restroom. He nods then the girls leave. Rono got suspicious of this and decided to follow them, he was later stopped when he overheard Osaka asking Kimura a question he never thought Osaka would ask to Kimura.

"Mr. Kimura may I ask you a question?"

"Sure go ahead."

"If you like high school girls, then what do you think of Chiyo?"

He looks over at the now frightened Chiyo who is looking at him in return.

"That's all well and fine!"

"I get it."

 _Just what does she get?_ Rono thought.

 **In the girl's bathroom...**

"Sorry that we had to talk here, it's better if there is nobody around." Tomo said.

"It's fine." Sakaki said.

"Now...are you and Rono secretly having an affai-ow!" Yomi hits Tomo on her head.

"That wasn't what we were going to ask her idiot!" She yells at her.

"Anyways, the question we wanted to ask is this. Have you two met before?" Yomi asked Sakaki who is now startled at her question.

"What makes you say that."

"We've noticed that the both of you have been getting along really easily. The moment when he is around you act differently."

"Like how?" Sakaki asked politely.

"Like...your personality. You're usually shy around people, most of the time, you barely talk when we're all hanging out. The moment he appears, you talk to him more as if you we're never shy!"

"Oh, sorry."

"No need to be sorry, it's normal, we're just curious that's all. Now... Have you two met before?"

A long pause occurred after she asked, until she finally spoke the truth.

"In truth...we actually have."

"So you have, I knew it!" Tomo said.

"But it's not the way you think." Sakaki responded.

Tomo and Yomi were no confused.

"What do you mean?" Tomo asked.

"He doesn't remember me." She looked down.

"How can that happen, when was the last time you two met!?" Tomo asked with curiosity.

"We've known each other since we were kids. He was my first friend."

"A childhood friend huh?" Yomi said.

"We used to play with each other everyday. Until one day, we had to separate. That last day, we both shed tears together. I remember when he cried easily when it came to emotional moments like those. I comforted him whenever he cried, because of that, we became closer than before. The day he left, I was all alone again. Alone at the park, alone at school and then when my life progressed, I've spent my time alone. I thought I would never get friends again."

On that long explanation, Tomo and Yomi felt sorry on what Sakaki had to go through.

"Until one day, on my first day of high school, I finally got to see him again. After I found out that he didn't recognize me, I was completely shocked. Before I even gave up, I talked to him on the roof. Before I realized it, I was able to talk to him easily again! I was thinking that the more I hang out with him, the faster he'll remember."

"Did you tell him that you two met?" Yomi asked.

"Not exactly...I'm afraid that he wouldn't believe me."

"That is true." Tomo said.

"Sorry that you had to go through that, we shouldn't of asked." Yomi and Tomo bowed to Sakaki.

"Oh no, it's fine really!"

"It's our fault, sorry. We should probably get back to the classroom, lunch is about to start. I'm hungry already." Tomo informed.

"Yeah let's go." Yomi said.

Tomo and Sakaki follow her out the door and walk towards the classroom. Now that Yomi and Tomo know about the situation, they will try their best to not interfere. The first thing they see from their friends, is Chiyo in Rono's arms. From the entrance, it looked like if Chiyo saw something terrifying. She was shaking, her eyes were watery and he hugged Rono's arm very tightly.

"What happened here?" Yomi asked.

"Chiyo got scared by Kimura." Rono responded.

"I see, doesn't surprise me."

"Lunch is about to start, should we all eat at the cafeteria? We need to let Chiyo spend time out of this class, especially from him." He said.

"Great idea, let's get out of here."

He and his friends then go down to the first floor where the cafeteria is located. Chiyo who was still trembling, held hands with Rono the whole time they were walking. To him, it felt as if she were his little sister. He never saw Chiyo have this side of her before, he felt the need to help. When they got to their destination, Chiyo finally snapped out of her fearful state and back to her happy self.

Everyone sighs in relief.

"What's that paper everyone in the line has in their hand?" Rono asked.

"That? Those are tickets, are the cafeterias in America different?" Yomi asked.

"Slightly, you just get in line and wait for your turn to get lunch and that's it. Can you tell me how this all works?"

"Sure."

She leads everyone to the ticket machine.

"Right here, is the menu for today. Everyday, the menus change, except for rice."

She looks at the menu and makes her choice.

"For example, they are serving curry today, all you have to do insert the money then press on the button next to the food that you want and wait for your ticket to come out."

Her ticket comes out of the slot, she grabs it and shows it to him.

"See? It's that simple, next thing you do is get in line, show it to the lunch lady and she gives you the food."

"I see, seems easier than back at my school."

He examines the menu.

"And the food here is healthy too."

"What kind of food do Americans eat at the cafeteria?" Tomo asked.

Before he could even answer her question, his stomach grumbled with hunger.

"I'll tell you while we're eating, I'm hungry."

He gets in line along with the girls, they wait and wait until it's their turn to get their order. Luckily the line wasn't that long, it was just a couple of students in front. Most of the high schoolers were already in their tables eating and socializing with their close friends. Unfortunately, this gave one of the members a bad memory.

Back in middle school in America, Rono was always alone when it was his lunch period. He didn't sit in any of the tables inside the cafeteria, not with anyone at least. Outside the cafeteria were a set of circular tables under the shade from a hangover of the nearby building. That's where he would always sit on, he never felt the need to eat with anyone, he wanted to be alone. Rono would eat his food prepared by his mother or from the school, he was never the type to have a conversation with nor socialize. Now today, it is the first time he will be able to sit with anyone, this time his close friends are there to accompany him.

At last it was their turn to get their order, they did so and got to their desired table to sit at. The table was completely empty, so for now, it is for them only. Tomo and Osaka sat next to Yomi, Chiyo sat next to Sakaki. When Rono finally came back with his food, he decided to sit next to Sakaki. When that happened, she blushed a little causing Yomi to notice. Before anyone could have their first bite, all of them said 'Thank you for the food.' and then began eating, all except Osaka. She was trying to split her chopsticks in half. For a while there, she was struggling until she finally snapped it in half. She now felt happy that she felt the need to show it to the others.

"Hey Chiyo!"

"What is it?"

Osaka shows her the now snapped in half chopsticks feeling proud.

"Heeh." She said happily

She turns to Yomi to show her.

"Yomi, Yomi! Heeh!"

"Yeah and?"

"Tomo, Tomo!" Osaka called her.

"Huh?" She looks at her.

"Heeh." She shows her the chopsticks once again.

"Is she happy because she split the chopsticks in half evenly?" Chiyo whispered to Yomi.

"Probably."

Moving on from to a different subject, Rono almost forgot to answer Tomo's question.

"That's right, I almost forgot! Tomo, you wanted to know what kind of food my school had, and right?"

"Yeah, took you a while to remember." She said in a grumpy tone.

"Sorry." He said as he rubs the back of his head.

"Anyways, the food most schools have are usually junk food. Usually there are pizza slices, chicken burgers, fish burgers, beef burgers and nachos; on a side note there is a salad bar. In some schools there are daily specialties, most of the time you have to pay extra in order to get it. Pretty similar to this school in a way."

"Yeah, but better food." Tomo commented.

"I guess, but I like this style better."

The whole time during supper, all of them focused only on eating. No conversations occurred whatsoever. When finished, all of them place their trays on the counter by the lunch lady.

"We go back to Kimura's class right?" He asked as all of them walk out of the cafeteria.

"Yes we do." Chiyo replied back.

"You still scared?" Rono asked.

"Not anymore."

"Tell us if anything weird happens between you and Kimura."

"I will."

"You're a real softie you know that Rono." Tomo said.

"You're no different than me Tomo, I know you have a soft spot."

"Uh what are you talking about hehe, I don't have one!"

"Forget what I said, let's go back."

Off they go to their homeroom which was located on the fourth floor of the school. It could sometimes be tiring to walk up and down the stairs, but if you're Osaka, you're doomed. In the back, she is found walking normally at first but as the group made it to the second floor, she is all tired. She breathes heavily, she slouches towards the ground and her walking slows down. At this point, she is likely to get left behind by her friends, luckily the small and thoughtful girl noticed. She calls her friends to let them know that Osaka needs help on walking up stairs to their homeroom. After this, it reminded everyone to always check on Osaka when it comes to something physical related for her.

That out of the way, Sakaki stares at Rono as he walks in front of the group with them. She wants him back, even though his personality hasn't changed, a part of her wants the old Rono back again, the one that asked her to be his friend. Yomi catches her staring at him from behind and tells her something.

"You want him to remember don't you?"

She nods to her question. Yomi and Sakaki talk to one another in a whispering tone.

"Back then, he knew your parents, right?"

"Yes, why?" Sakaki asked.

"Why don't you and Rono go to the mall with your parents this Friday. Maybe that'll give him some kind of memory?"

"I-I don't know about that."

"How come?"

"Last Sunday...He visited my house."

"Wow really? What did you both do there?"

"We both spent the half of the day in my room. The other half, both of us had to do an errand for my mom, we had to get groceries. On the way there, we ran into Chiyo in the convenience store. After that, we ended up at my house for a while. Then my dad came back from work and decided to take us all to a fast food restaurant."

"Looks like you had a fun day huh?"

"Mostly, but something happened with Rono when we got McDonalds."

"What was it?"

"I'm not entirely sure at this point, he didn't seem well from my perspective. I asked him if he was sick or something but he told me that he was fine. After a while, I saw that he was being cautious as if someone was about to get him. He looked worried, scared, nervous, paranoid. Maybe he shouldn't spend too much time outside."

"Nonsense! It was only for that time, do not worry, I have a feeling that everything will go fine the next time you and your parents spend time with him."

"You think so?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, I-I'll make sure that I ask him after school."

They made it to class which was halfway full with students. Always noisy as usual, different conversations going on, people laughing and others looking out the window. A short while after that, the school bell rang causing all the students to go back to their seats and all the teacher to come back to their class. First thing that Rono did was observe Chiyo all the way from his seat. As he expected, she turns back to him.

"Calm down." He said in a quiet tone as he moves his hand up and down to calm her.

She nods and looks at the board where Kimura was writing.

On the board it says 'World War II'. It was figured that now they will be learning about the events of World War II.

"Welcome back class, from this point forward we will be learning about World War II for history. Since there were more than two countries who fought in the war, we'll do a single test for each country. To make things easier for some of you, we will be watching a documentary of the subject first, and then we'll read about it after. Keep in mind that some of the images you will see in this documentary will be graphic. I think all of us will be able to handle it since all of you are indeed high schoolers. You may do notes during this."

For most people, they can handle a graphic imagery. The only people who don't are Sakaki and Chiyo. Sakaki isn't a big fan of any type of graphic imagery. Little did Kimura know that the only child prodigy in his class wouldn't be able to get through this since she is 10 years old.

 _Graphic imagery huh? That reminds me, is Chiyo allowed to watch this kind of stuff, after all she is still a child. Nah she's the smartest of them all, she probably already knows about this stuff._ Rono thought.

When a whole hour passed, the movie finally came to an end. Luckily, the majority of the class were hooked on the subject, mainly the male students. Before they knew it, the school bell rang which meant that school has finally ended. Rono and the others grouped up, all except Chiyo. Something was off, she would always be the first to group up with the others. Sakaki was first to notice, she lets the others know. They all walk towards Chiyo, as they get closer, she starts to shiver. The second they walk to see her face, shock filled their faces. Chiyo was pale white, shivering in fear and tears filled her eyes. She was traumatized from the documentary.

"Chiyo did you enjoy the movie?" Osaka said in a happy tone.

"Oh yeah she's shivering in happiness." Yomi said in a sarcastic tone.

"Really? I'm glad she enjoyed it."

 _I don't think she gets the sarcasm she is saying._ Rono thought

"Let's make sure she walks home safely." Rono suggested.

"Right!" Everyone said.

And thus, the group of friends help Chiyo down the stairs, through the hallway and out the gates.

During their walk through the sidewalk with Cherry Blossom trees by each side, Chiyo begins to calm down. All of a sudden, Rono remembered something, he forgot to buy more groceries for his house. It was a matter of time that he would run out of food to cook.

"Uh oh, I forgot to buy more groceries!"

"Oh yeah I forgot, you live alone." Said Tomo.

"Go on without me, see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye!" They all said.

As he ran off to the nearby convenience store, Yomi asked Sakaki a question.

"Did you ask him?"

"Oh no, I forgot. I'll ask him over the phone." She said.

"Ooh, you two gave each other's phone numbers?" Tomo said.

The question caused Sakaki to blush a slight shade of pink on her cheeks.

"That reminds me, we haven't given each other our numbers yet." Yomi said.

"Want to do it now?" Yomi asked to Sakaki.

"Sure." She replied back.

"You guys are lucky, I don't have a phone." Chiyo said in disappointment.

"Hahaha, all because you're a kid." Tomo teased her.

"Shut up moron!" Yomi exclaimed.

By the time Rono got out of the store, the sun had already set. Luckily there were still a few people around his area. Which means that it's still safe, less danger of course. He walks and picks us his pace to his apartment building.

When he made it to his apartment, the first thing he did was organize the new groceries in his refrigerator and place some of the herbs and spices in the cabinet of the kitchen. The last thing he was going to do was take a shower after a long day of school.

Suddenly he was stopped from doing so, he receives a call from someone. He looks at the screen of his phone and finds out that it was actually his friend Sakaki! He answers the call.

"Hello?"

"Rono."

"What is it?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, what is that you want?" He said as he went to the bathroom to get his towel.

"I was wondering if you would..."

"Would what?" He asked.

"Hang out with me at the mall with my parents."

He had doubts about going outside in the city, but he didn't want to turn down the offer. He does not want to let her down.

"Alright, I'll go. When is it?"

"Friday after school."

"Okay, where should we meet?"

"At my house."

"Cool, I'm looking forward to it."

"Great, good night."

"Sweet dreams!" Then he hung up.

During the whole conversation with Sakaki, her parents with her the whole time. All of them were hoping that this little trip would at least recover some of his lost memories at least. As for Rono, he felt if something bad will happen on Friday for him.


	12. That Day

**That Day**

 **Friday...**

 _It's been three days since Sakaki invited me, time passes by that fast! The tests from our classes have been completed entirely, the last class we have is Physical Education. It's an easy class for me, all you have to do is move around and participate and that's it, nothing related to your mental abilities. After all of this is finished, I'll go home to take a shower and get ready to go hang out with Sakaki and her parents. It isn't everyday that I get nervous for an event like this, I feel if something bad will happen. I think I should really get prepared just in case._ Rono thought.

 **In the girl's locker room...**

Sakaki was last to arrive at the girl's locker room, she just came back from the girl's restroom. Due to her chest size which she is ashamed of, she feels uncomfortable in her swim suit. Especially when there are boys included in the classroom. The thought of that made her wonder, does Rono ever focus on stuff like that about girls.

 _I really do hope that's not one of the reasons why he hangs out with me so much!_ She thought with an embarrassed face.

Out of nowhere, Tomo ran to Sakaki, filled with curiosity, she asked her a question about yesterday.

"How'd it go!?" She exclaimed.

"How did what go?"

"You know, asking Rono out!"

"Wha- it's not like that." She said in a low tone.

Sakaki was now blushing to the idea of her asking him out and vice versa. To her, she isn't ready for that kind of stuff yet. She wants to wait, if she loves someone truly, then she is ready for a relationship of her own. But that is way too far into the future.

Then Chiyo came jumped right into the conversation.

"I think she meant what did Rono say about getting invited?"

"He accepted."

"That's great!" Chiyo said.

"Well, let's get ready, class is about to start." Chiyo said.

She nods and goes to her locker to put on her swimsuit.

 **In the boy's locker room...**

Things weren't going as planned, during the whole day, he's been feeling nauseous. It is very unlikely for him since he doesn't feel the need to vomit. The only time he gets nauseous is when he gets nervous over something. He thought it could be all of those tests he's been taking in his classes. It couldn't be that, he never gets like that when he's already prepared and knows what's coming up in the test.

Rono is by his locker alongside with Tod, he notices Rono's nausea when he puts his stuff in his locker.

"Rono."

"What?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, what makes you say that all of a sudden?"

"The way you look disgusted, are you going to vomit? If you are, stay way from me."

"Don't be absurd, I'm not going to vomit!"

"Good, I don't want the locker room to smell worse than sweaty socks." Tod finished.

They soon ended their 'little' conversation and moved on to changing into their swimming trunks. The girls and the boys move out to the pool and wait patiently for their teacher. Meanwhile, the students start to socialize with one another while the Azu-group talk for a while.

"Miss Sakaki?" Chiyo called.

"Yes?"

"Can we talk in private?"

"Sure."

The tall and quiet student and the little girl leave to a more private place where the two can talk in peace.

"What is it you want to talk about?" Sakaki asked.

"It's about Rono."

She pauses for a minute then continues with her reason of the two being here.

"I know it isn't any of my business...but...I think you need to tell him that you two used to be friends."

"Why?"

"Because..."

Chiyo became hesitant on giving her the reason.

"What if someday he disappears from us."

Sakaki became surprised at Chiyo's sudden answer.

"What do you mean?"

"You told me that the reason he left you was because he had to go with his parents for some job his dad had to do with. What if he decides to go back to America, what will you do then?"

Sakaki's eyes were wide open during Chiyo's response, she wanted to forget the whole thing that she said, but Chiyo was right. What if he really does want to move back to America again?

"You should might as well try telling him, even if he doesn't believe you in the end, at least he'll still be friends with you!"

"You're right, I'll try."

"I'm glad, sorry for causing you trouble."

"No don't worry, you didn't do anything bad."

"Really, I still feel guilty." Chiyo said rubbing the back of her head.

The moment the two girls came back, Rono finally arrived. The strange thing about him this time is that the whole way he was walking, he held his hand on his stomach. Sakaki found something odd about him, she wanted to ask him what was wrong but couldn't because the teacher arrived so everyone had to line up.

"Everyone get in line, I'll take attendance while we're at it!" Ms. Kurosawa said.

When she took attendance, the first thing that caught her sight was Rono. He was found still rubbing his stomach as if his stomach was aching.

"Rono you alright there?" She asked loudly from the front with the clipboard in hand.

"Yes I'm fine."

She took his word still not convinced and proceeds with the attendance sheet. When finished, she announced something different today.

"Alright class, today we are going to do something different."

Kurosawa walks in the storage room and comes out with a box full of used goggles.

"We will have a race. For teams, the boys will go against the girls."

"So the battle between the genders." Rono commented quietly.

"All girls come here to get your goggles, second will be the boys."

As said, the girls were first to get the goggles while the boys went last. Both the boys and girls separated from each other now forming separate teams. Rono didn't have a chance to talk to one of his friends in P.e.

 _Looks like I'm on my own, am I?_ He thought.

"Now don't be all sad Rono!"

He heard a voice from behind, it was in fact Tod.

"I'm not, it's just been a while that I've been alone at school."

"What?" Tod said.

"Forget it."

All of them waited for Kurosawa's orders. They wait, they wait, until she finally announced what was next to do.

"Okay, first the shortest people will go first and then the tallest people will go last! Those of you who can't swim may use a kick board." She glances at Chiyo and Osaka after she said this.

Chiyo was up first and some other short guy. The boy climbed on top the starting block and readied his starting position. As for Chiyo, she is in the pool with her kick board wrapped around in her arms. Chihiro is in charge on counting off, while Kurosawa watches all the way from under the cool shade with a bench.

"Ready...set...go!" Chihiro yelled.

The boy dives in the pool, the way he dives in for him is like he jumps inside a pool of gelatin. They expected Chiyo to lose, but by surprise, she didn't.

The whole time the two were racing, the boy looked back at his opponent. The first thing that caught him was Chiyo's struggling face, she looked like she was about to cry. He felt so bad for the cute little girl.

"Ugh, damn it." He said.

He now made his decision, he's going to let the little girl win this time, that way she doesn't feel down. It took a minute for her to touch the opposite direction from the starting block. When she was halfway from reaching the starting block, he started swimming again slowly to let the girl win, that way she will think that she actually swam faster than him.

"Wow, great job Chiyo!" Yomi said.

"Awesome job!" Tomo said.

"Congrats!" Kaorin said.

When the boy returned to his team, most of his teammates were chastising him for his actions.

"Sorry I couldn't help it, I can't just let a little girl cry!"

After her, four more boys and girls got their turn to compete. Now it's is Tomo Takino's turn to compete to her fullest. A strange coincidence occurred with her opponent, that one opponent is actually the same boy who helped her out in the hallway! She tries her best to forget what actually happened during the whole incident.

"Hey!" She yelled from the other starting block.

"Huh?"

"You like my body?" She teased.

As soon as she said that, he blushes a shade of pink on his face.

"Tomo!" Yomi yelled.

"Ready...set...go!" Chihiro started the race.

Both swimmers dive in the pool as she said 'go'. At first Tomo was first in the lead, she is the energetic one after all. When she reached to the other wall, the opponent was about to catch up to her when she made it halfway back. With each stroke he took, there was little hope that he could win. Too bad that Tomo actually won the race, he now felt bad that he had let his team down. He gets out of the pool now ashamed.

"Don't worry, you weren't half bad." Rono said to him.

"He's right!" Tod said.

"Thanks."

The boy looked back at Tomo who was now in the middle of the crowd congratulating her on her achievement. The moment he looked at her from afar for a decent amount of time, she noticed him. In return, she winks at him as if she were telling him to come closer. Of course, he blushed and turned back around.

 _What was that about?_ Rono thought.

Again, three more boys and girls went on to continue the competion. Now it was Yomi's turn to compete. The opponent barely said anything, he instead said:

"Ready?"

Yomi nods back to him.

After that, Yomi won flawlessly, she might of competed even better than Tomo. At last, there were only a few more competitors after Kaorin and Tod. Both of them climbed on their own starting block.

Seconds before Chihiro started the race, he told Kaorin something.

"Good luck."

"Thanks, you too." She said.

Kaorin did her best this time, it still wasn't enough to beat him. Even though they were both the same size. At that, Osaka lost which caused the girls a point. They were three points above the boys, because of that, the boys scored two more points. Luckily, the girls were one point above the boys. Are the boys going to win this point to make this a tie, or are they going to lose that point which will cause them to go back home with shame?

There are only the last two competitors left to go. Those competitors are the tallest in for their own gender in the class. Those two were Sakaki and Rono.

"Looks like it's my turn."

He walks away until he was grabbed by his arm from Tod's hand.

"Do you promise that you'll win?" Tod asked.

He yanks his hand away from Tod and leaves.

"Can't promise you anything, if I lose, I lose, if I win, I win, it's not a big deal."

Rono gets on his team's starting block, Sakaki gets on her's as well. He breathes in and out before he starts to swim. The first thing he does was look at Sakaki who was doing the same. They both smiled to one another, Rono had something in his mind.

"Sakaki."

"Yes?"

"Even if I win, you won't get mad right?"

"That is if you win." She winked.

"I'm being serious Sakaki, we'll still be friends even if that did happen?"

"Of course, I don't want to lose a friend."

He was now relieved at her response.

"Right! Let's do our best!"

Before they even started, Miss Kurosawa interrupted them.

"Wait! I think we should do something different this time. How about if you two swim two fifties."

"You mean four laps?" Rono asked.

"Yes Rono." Kurosawa responded.

"Fine."

"You may start Chihiro."

"Okay!" Chihiro said.

"On your mark...get set!"

Everyone thought that this would be just a normal match. Sakaki has the best natural athletic ability, so they thought Rono had no chances on beating her. What they didn't know is how much he has improved over the years.

"Go!" Chihiro yelled out.

The two tallest people of their own genders dove in the pool swiftly as a launching missle. Under the water, they both kicked their feet up and down in the butterfly swimming style. That ways they can get a quick boost from the opposite wall. As both of them had stuck their heads out of the surface of the water, everyone out of the pool gasped that they were even matched on the distance. Sakaki and Rono both swam at the same speed, but this speed isn't what anyone has ever seen! No body ever knew that Rono would be this fast, he's going against the most fastest girl in the whole school!

Already this early, they were on their third lap halfway to the opposite side. For Rono, he thought he was swimming an average speed as everyone else. Just because Sakaki is going the same speed as him doesn't mean that they are not fast.

 _If I win this one then we'll win a point right? We just need one more to catch up with the girls and it will later be called a tie. Sorry Sakaki but I need to win this for the boys, you don't mind, right?_ He thought.

After that thought, he increased his speed. He was now three feet ahead of Sakaki. As time progressed on their fourth and final lap, his whole body was now in front of Sakaki. With each powerful stroke he took, it was enough to get more speed. He may not be as muscular as many of the boys who work out in the gym, but what they don't notice is how amazing is his agility. He's the guy you don't want to challenge on a race along with Sakaki. Before he knew it, he touched the wall now causing him to win the race. The boys are now tied with the girls, so in reality, everybody won! The boys were now screaming in joy, some of the girls were had their mouth wide open on how he won in the last lap.

Rono gets out of the pool, water was dripping from his soaked body, he was breathing heavily from all the swimming he's done in the pool. The boys were now congratulating on his race.

"That..was..amazing!" Tod said.

"Are you even human?" One of the boys said.

"Thanks, and yes I'm human." Rono replied back.

He turns around to find Sakaki still in the pool, she was about to get out of the pool from the edge. Rono came up to her and offered her his hand.

"That was amazing, Sakaki."

She blushes from his compliment and takes his hand now lifting her up.

"Thank you." She said.

"Great job guys, class dismissed! Have a safe weekend!"

"You too." Everyone said back.

All the students went to their locker rooms to first take a short shower in the bathroom at the shower section of the locker room and then change into their uniform again. After that race had occurred, Rono is now became more well known that he had ever been. All they talked about was his speed, now all they wanted to see was how good he is on a different kind of sport.

When Rono got out of the building, he went to the front school gates as always just to find his tall and patient friend waiting for him with her suitcase. He gets closer and Sakaki immediately finds him.

"Hey." He held up his hand waving at her.

"Hey."

"You tired?" Rono asked.

"A little." She responded.

"Me too, but it's not enough to prevent me from going to that little event you and your parents are having."

"Yeah."

"Are we just going to walk around the city and maybe go shop around in a few stores?"

"Mhm." She nods.

"What are you love birds talking about?" Tomo exclaimed from afar.

Sakaki blushed as she heard her. Her friends were with Tomo as well.

"Huh?" Rono wondered.

"Oh hey Tomo, ready to to home?"

They all nod yes and get off of the school campus.

Just like everyday, Yomi, Osaka and Tomo split apart in a group from Rono, Sakaki and Chiyo to go to their neighborhood. Along the way back to home, they bumped into one of Chiyo's friends from grade school.

"Chiyo is that you?" Said one of the girls.

"Yuka, Miruchi!" Chiyo runs up and greets them.

"It's been a long while!" Chiyo said.

"It sure has" Yuka said.

Sakaki and Rono wanted to see who were these little girls that Chiyo was talking to. As they walk closer and closer to them, a turn of events had occurred. Rono finds something familiar with one of the girls. It's the girl beside Chiyo's right side, the one with long and brown hair which almost reached her back. When Yuka found Rono in her sight, she instantly recognized him.

"Have we met before?" Rono asked Yuka.

"Wait, are you the one who helped me out at the mall?" Yuka asked Rono.

"So we have indeed. Yes that was me."

"He's the helpful person you were talking about before?" Miruchi asked Yuka.

"Yeah he is!"

"So I'm assuming that you already met Yuka before?" Chiyo asked.

"We have but...we don't exactly know each other's names." He rubs the back of his head.

"Then let me introduce them to you two." Chiyo said.

"This is Miruchi and this is Yuka."

"Hello, it's very nice to meet you all." Yuka and Miruchi said as they bow down to Sakaki and Rono.

"And these are my friends from high school." Chiyo informed.

"This is Miss Sakaki, and that is Rono." She points to each of them.

"It's nice to you meet you." They bow down to Yuka and Miruchi.

"Are these your friends Chiyo?" Rono asked.

"Yes they are, from my grade school to be exact." Chiyo said.

"Nice, how are things for the both of you?"

"Pretty great great if you ask me." Yuka said.

"Same here." Miruchi said.

"That's good."

"I was wondering, what's popular in school now?" Chiyo asked to both Miruchi and Yuka.

"Jump roping, all the kids are doing it!" Yuka said.

"It's really fun." Miruchi added.

"Wow, how I miss those days." Chiyo said looking up to the sky.

"You sound so mature Chiyo!" Miruchi exclaimed to Chiyo.

"You really think so? I still feel the same as back then."

"Nah, you're still the same old crying 10 year old." Rono said.

"Hey!" Chiyo pouts in annoyance as she looks at Rono.

His statement made everyone except Chiyo chuckle.

"Hehe, you know I'm kidding." He smiles to her.

"Oh good."

She carries on and says good bye to her friends.

"It's been good seeing you guys again." Chiyo said.

"It really has, let's hang out with each other sometime." Yuka said.

"Like a movie?" Miruchi said.

"Sounds great!" Chiyo said.

"Goodbye." Said Yuka and Miruchi as they walked away and waved bye at the same time facing at them.

Chiyo, Rono and Sakaki waved back as they continue to walk home.

During their walk home, Chiyo brought up something to both of her tall friends.

"So, I heard that the two of you are going to the mall, along with Sakaki's parents."

"Yes, what about it?" Sakaki asked the curious little girl.

"Oh nothing particular, it just would be fun if all of us could bond by doing an activity of some kind."

"We could if we planned it out." Rono said.

"What do you want to do?" Sakaki asked.

"Anything, as long as we enjoy the activity, together!" Chiyo added.

"Hmm, maybe someday we'll plan out something." Rono told her.

"Really!? That would be great!"

He chuckles as he rubs the top of Chiyo's head.

The further they walked, the closer they were to Rono's apartment building. He tells Sakaki and Chiyo that he'll be off to his house to get readied up before the trip to the city. He waves them good bye and runs off to his apartment.

After taking a shower, he prepares his stuff he needs for shopping. Like the his wallet and his phone. Then he puts on his deodorant under his now cleansed armpit, sprays on his cologne on his shirt and under his arm sleeves. After that, he brushes his teeth and gargles with his mouth with mouth wash. Now he combs his brown hair back and forth, then the last thing he's done was wash his face throughly. Now he is ready to go. The moment he gets out, he is wearing nothing fancy nor delicate but he's wearing casual clothes for any kind of day. This time he leaves the building and walks to Sakaki's house.

After ten minutes of waiting, Rono finally made it to the house. He presses on the intercom button and asks if there was anybody at the house. Indeed there was, instead of letting him in the house, they all came out at once and told him to get in the car parked in the garage. He does as he's told and opens the right door of the back seat of the car. Although there were two more cars, they decided to take the one where it had enough seats for five people. By car, it didn't take long to get to the nearest parking garage in the city of Tokyo.

First stop was to go to a sushi restaurant, the thing is, the sushi the restaurant serves there have different kind of varieties. Sushi with beef on top, sausage on top, bacon on top, chicken on top, you name it. The way you get your food is by waiting on your seats. On your table, there are these tablets that have the menu with you, with that you can choose your desired sushi. On each table, there are small tread mills with plates of one sushi on top which you can pick up. The yellow plates are the ones you've ordered, as usual they are warm, fresh and ready. As for the normal plates, those have been out since ten minutes ago, it isn't a wise choice to eat those. Later, the chefs will dispose of those sushi.

While you waited for your order to arrive, a waitress asks you what drink you would like. Everyone else asked for their desired beverage. Of course, Rono would ask for green tea.

Right when the waitress left, a question came up to him.

"So you like green tea huh?" Sakaki's dad said.

"Yeah, it's my favorite drink after all."

"Ahem."

It was clear that Sakaki and her mother knew that that was their cue for their next step to the plan.

"I'll be going to the ladies' room, come with me Sakaki."

"Oh, okay."

The two females walk towards the bathrooms leaving the two men at the table waiting for the meals.

"So...what's your relationship with my daughter?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what do you two do during school?"

"Oh that! Let me think."

It wasn't long until he finally said what was done before.

"Sometimes when school ends, we go to the vending machines to drink some juice. We would sit and chat on the benches. But most of the time, we hang out with our friends too."

"Oh you have more, do you mind if you tell me a bit about them?"

"Not at all. First up Tomo, she's the most energetic girl out of the whole group. She could be teasing or annoying you at times, but she's still bearable. Then Ayumu A.K.A Osaka."

"Why would she be named Osaka?" Sakaki's father asked.

"She is from Osaka."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Yeah, anyways."

Rono continues after his comment.

"She can't be described in words to be honest, but I'll try my best. She can be easily distracted by the smallest of things, sometimes can be spaced out during class, oddly creepy but in an innocent way."

"Interesting."

"Next is Koyomi, A.K.A Yomi. She's the most mature one in the group, she focuses on her studies and everything. Fun fact about her is that she was friends with Tomo ever since grade school!"

"Really? That's one interesting group of friends you got their, anyone else?"

"That's all besides Chiyo, you know the child prodigy you met last weekend?"

"Yep can't forget that girl." Sakaki's dad chuckles along with Rono.

After the heart warming chat they had, Sakaki and her mother arrive by the table.

"I see that you're having fun without us huh?"

"Seems like it." Sakaki said.

Soon after that, everyone ate the delicious varieties of sushi. The restaurant was once again filled up with more customers than before! The family leaves the restaurant and carry on to their plans of shopping through out the city.

The sky began to blacken, the gentle breeze of the wind blew on every person in Tokyo's streets. The owners from every store turned on the outside lights so it can be easier to walk on the sidewalk. It was now time for everyone to go home, but for people who want to stay up a little longer, they stay and carry on.

Rono has never been outside in the busy streets of Tokyo at night. This was his first time doing this kind of thing, usually he would go to bed at this time of 9pm, but since he's with his friend, he can stay up a bit longer.

Something strange happened, he felt that paranoid feeling again. He began to breathe in and out very quickly. He observed his surroundings in case if there was anyone suspicious-looking. No one was there, but something caught his sight.

There was a cat in the street in his left side. Luckily it was safe because the drivers drove around it. Suddenly the unthinkable happened, from very far, sirens are heard by the nearby citizens from where Rono is standing. Those sirens were coming from five police cars, they were chasing a sky blue car. What was odd is that one police car turned left to a different street leaving it separated from the other police cars. All the cars that were in the street next to Rono have moved to the side of street to let the police pass. The most worrying part was that car that the police was chasing is going to run over the cat!

Rono decides to save the cat from getting run over, he then jumps over the little fence that separates the side walk from the street. As soon as he looked at the cat from afar, something came in his mind, it was a name, a name that he had forgotten until now.

 _Why is that cat so familiar? He kind...of..looks like-._ Sakaki thought until Rono said something out loud that completely shocked her.

"NEKO-SAN!" Rono shouted.

 _No way!_ Sakaki and her parents thought.

Rono runs as fast as he can, with his impressive athletic abilities, it was enough to catch her, but it wasn't enough to out run a car. The moment he picked up the cat, the car was already ten feet from where Rono was standing.

"Out of the way!" Said the man inside the sky blue car while sticking his head and left arm out of the window.

What Rono didn't notice was fact that the driver had a gun in his hand. When he felt that something worse was going to happen, he lightly tossed the cat on the ground to make it escape. Shortly, the driver shot Rono on his right shoulder leaving him to fall on the ground. It was then that the driver bumped into him with his car, leaving Rono to have minor injuries. Luckily the speed of the car was just 20 mph, it wasn't enough to leave Rono with major injuries. Immediately the driver comes out of the car and walk to him. He takes out his gun now with his right hand.

 _Wait...that scar on his right hand...it can't be._ He thought.

"You shouldn't of interfered with my plans, kid." He said the serial killer now pointing his gun at Rono's head.

Rono thought this was the end of the line for him, he really felt bad that he was going to get killed in front of many people, including Sakaki. But then, something happened.

"RONO!" Said someone from the left side of the sidewalk.

A gun shot is heard, the bullet went straight to the gun that the killer was holding. Now the gun fell of of his hand. When Rono turned his head to the left sidewalk, he noticed that it was an policeman. When he looked at the officer's face, he immediately recognized him, it was his dad.

His dad took out his taser gun and shot it at the most wanted person in Japan. The killer fell to the ground now stunned from the electricity. He then handcuffed the killer in the end.

"Thank god." Rono said before he fell unconscious.

The last thing that he saw with his eyes were Sakaki and her parents and Rono's dad running over to him before he closed his eyes.


	13. Revelations

**Revelations**

The whole time of the police chase, it was being filmed on live television. The footage was broadcasted on a news channel, thousands of people from Japan are watching footage. Usually it would end up with the driver surrendering, never in the channel's history has it caught someone get shot in the process. It shocked thousands from the part where that civilian got shot. That civilian, was Rono Takayama. The worse thing about the whole situation is that one of those thousands who saw the broadcast, was Tomo and Chiyo. Chiyo always watches the news since she wants to be aware of what was happening in Tokyo. Tomo watches it only when there were any police chases. Never have they thought that they would watch their friend get shot on live television.

Back at Chiyo's home, she was shocked and terrified. When that happened, she ran to her parents who were down stairs preparing dinner. For the whole thirty minutes, her mother was trying to comfort her by hugging her while her dad was watching the news trying to be aware of what exactly had happened.

At Tomo's home, she was watching the police chase, she could handle a little violence, but at the same time she never expected this to happen. She instantly recognized the civilian on television. The moment he got shot, she immediately jumps out of her window of her one story house, opens the gate of her back yard and runs off to Yomi's house. She opens Yomi's back yard door, runs through the back yard and knocks on Yomi's window. Yomi barely got inside her own room from dinner, she hears a sound from outside. She opens the curtains of her window and finds Tomo.

She sighs and opens the window anyways.

"What do you want?" She grumbled.

"Turn on the T.v and go to the news channel!" She exclaims.

"Why?"

"Just do it!" She said.

Yomi noticed something odd about her. She was breathing constantly, her eyes were starting to get watery. Yomi clearly knew that something was up. She did what she was told, turns on her television and changes it to the news channel. On the lower part of screen, it says:

Civilian injured during police chase

"Yeah what about it?" Yomi said.

"That man was Rono!"

"You're kidding right?" Yomi said.

"I'm not!"

"Hmm, if I call Sakaki with my phone and she tells me that none of this is true, then I'll never trust you again." Yomi said.

"Fine, call her then and you'll see I'm not lying!"

Yomi opens up her phone, scrolls through her contacts list and calls Sakaki's phone. She awaits for her answer, but Sakaki didn't answer.

"That's weird."

"Believe me now?" Tomo said.

"I guess, but I'll call her again tomorrow."

 **Back at Sakaki's area...**

Rono was now getting carried away on a stretcher to the ambulance. Right at the moment when he collapsed, he was bleeding from his bullet wound, but luckily, he was still breathing. It wasn't too much blood that was dripped, but if he was shot anywhere on his arteries, then he would surely die from blood loss.

Before the ambulance drove off to the hospital, Sakaki and her mother accompanied the paramedics. Her father stayed with the police that way he can clear things up. After all the questions he was asked from numerous police men, he was called by his name.

"Hey, Yuudai." Said a police officer.

He turns around and finds another police officer. He stood about 5'8, he's well built, as of now he is wearing his uniform, has brown eyes exactly as Rono's.

"I thought you were done asking questions and how do you know my name?" Yuudai said.

"You really don't remember me do you?"

He steps back, takes off his hat, messes up his black hair and looks back to him face to face.

"It's me, Ronin, Rono's father. Nice to see you again." He said as he smiled at him.

Yuudai stares at his face for a bit and finally recognizes him.

"No way!"

"It's been eight years my friend."

The two joined together with a friendly hug that ended up with them patting each other on the back.

"It's so great to see you again! You haven't changed a bit!" Yuudai said.

"What do you expect, I'm thirty-one, I was already done growing years ago.

Both of them laughed it out.

"So my son got in the accident just to save a cat?"

"Pretty much." Yuudai said.

"Well, that's to be expected from him. He's crazy over cats."

"Really? Just like my daughter."

"Yeah, speaking of your daughter, how are things between her and Rono? Do they still hang out like back then?" Ronin asked.

"Not exactly."

"What?"

"It's a long story, let's sit down for a bit."

After some explaining, Ronin has been finally informed of what has was happening ever since his son had arrived to Japan. Like everyone, he felt sorry for what Rono had to go through when he moved to America with him. All of his lost memories could all be because of that.

"I see, so when he came back, he hasn't remembered a thing about his past, am I correct?"

"Yes, that is right."

"So why didn't you tell him about it?"

"Well here's the thing, Sakaki doesn't want us to tell him what happened, she wants him to figure it out on his own."

"So you think it's better to let him know after death?"

"What are you talking about?"

"As we know as of now, Rono was this close to dying, what do you think might of happened if I hadn't showed up? He would be shot dead by that lunatic. What would you do after that? Tell his now rotting and bloody corpse all about it? All of this, could of been avoided easily if you told him in the first place."

Yuudai shocked from his comment, now stood in silence looking down at the ground in shame.

"I'm sorry for all of this." Yuudai apologized.

"Look, there are things that shouldn't be kept in secret."

He turns around and starts to walk away to his car, but he stops to tell him one more thing before he leaves.

"Sorry about what I said, but you've seen what happend. When Rono wakes up, I expect you and your family to tell him what exactly happened back then. After you tell him, tell Sakaki to promise me this."

He turns around and faces back at him.

"Do not keep secrets from each other, unless if it's necessary."

Ronin turns back around and walks to his car. He opens the door of his police car, gets inside, turns on the engine, puts on his seat belt, turns his car to and drives with the group of police cars. Yuudai kept his eyes on the police car where Ronin was in until it disappeared in the distance.

He sighs and walks to get to his car.

"Let's hope Rono doesn't die on us."

When Sakaki and her mother left with Rono inside the ambulance, the paramedics controlled the bleeding from the gun shot wound with a tourniquet. Before they knew it, they made it to the hospital. Rono was then rushed to the emergency room, Sakaki and her mother weren't allowed to enter. He was going to get a surgery to remove the bullet from his body and clean some of the scrapes from his body. Before the surgeon went inside, he asked the two for their names just in case. He then told them that they will be able to visit him tomorrow until he was treated right. So now they have to wait until the next day.

After getting picked up by Sakaki's father, Sakaki went to her room to sleep. While her parents talked about a few things.

"Honey, I think we should, tell Rono."

"What, why, your daughter told us to not tell him yet!" She said in anger.

"It's just.."

"Just what?"

He could barely answer his wife, he felt like all of this was his fault. If he hadn't kept the secret inside, then Rono wouldn't be in this situation.

"He almost died out there."

"Yeah."

Silence occurred only between the husband and wife.

"The reason we planned this event was because we wanted to jog his memory, right?"

"Yes, what are you saying?"

"If we told him about his past in the first place, then he wouldn't be this badly injured."

She stood in utter shock, she thinks to herself of how selfish they'd all been.

"You're right, he's been hurt because of us."

"I suggest that we tell him immediately after he wakes up."

"Yeah...let's do that."

His wife looked at the ground feeling bad for Sakaki's friend, she wasn't in the mood to do anything but cry. Before that occurred, her husband decided to lighten up the mood a bit.

"Oh and one last thing."

"W-what?" She sobs as she looks at him with tears now forming in her eyes.

"While I was settling things up with the police, I saw Ronin!"

"Really?" She said.

"Yep, he hasn't changed at all either!"

"That's good to hear."

"Honey, don't be so hard on yourself, this isn't your fault."

"I don't know, I still feel so guilty."

Without knowing, Sakaki opened the door of the family room and walked inside.

"Sakaki why are you still awake?" Her mother said.

"I-I can't sleep." She said quietly.

Her father sighs and stands back up from the carpet floor.

"Come on, let's eat, it's already midnight. You haven't ate anything before going to sleep."

"Okay." Sakaki whispered.

She walks away with her parents to the kitchen without saying a word. From that point forward, they ate as a family at the dining room with pastries now on the table. It was odd, the atmosphere was way different that what they have experienced. Sakaki and her mother looked depressed when eating their food. That happy atmosphere was now gone, instead, it had transitioned to a sad and lonely atmosphere. All there was, was pure silence. The silence was soon broken by Sakaki's father.

"Sakaki."

"Yes?" She sobbed after.

"If you want we can visit Rono tomorrow morning?"

"Are you sure?" She said in a quiet tone.

"Yep." He said.

"When it's time for lunch, we can make Rono some lunch. I don't think he'll like hospital food that much."

"Thank you mother, thank you father."

"You're welcome." Said her father and mother.

Now they feel much better now that their daughter is smiling. She meant the whole world to them.

 **The next day...**

Things went on a different turn the next day. After the surgery had occurred last night, it was expected that he would wake up sometime in the early morning. Unfortunately, he didn't wake up at all, he was still unconscious from yesterday. One of the nurses from the hospital checked up on him to see if his heart was at least beating. Turns out that he's still alive, but knocked out.

"I'm sorry for what happened, please wake up for your family and friends." The nurse whispered to him.

The nurse that took care of Rono stood 5'8, she had a white nurse uniform and a white hat with the Red Cross on it. The nurse is always kind to the patients in the hospital, she helps the elderly and the sick. She always tries her best to treat them right until they get cured from whatever they have been ill of. She then walks away and is soon to come back after three morehours to put set up the next round of nutrients for Rono's IV.

Rono wakes up in his bed, but something is different. He isn't on his normal bed from his apartment. When he lifts his upper body from the bed, he notices the bed is smaller than the one from the apartment. He looks around his room and notices that there are a handful of toys, there was even most beloved stuffed animal, Kiroki.

"Kiroki!" He jumps out of his bed and walk to his shelf where his stuffs bear was on top of.

The bear had a blue scarf and a green sweater. It's as if he was prepared for chilly day outside.

He hugs the bear tightly but something pops up in his mind.

 _Wait a minute, why is he here?_ He thought.

He looks around the room he was in once again. His eyes widen as he recognises where he was. This very room was the one from his old house in Japan before he moved to America!

"W-what, w-why am I here?" He said.

Many questions developed in his head, he was confused if he was dreaming or not. Then a mirror is found in front of his door. He walks nervously to the mirror and then he gasps in shock. His physical appearance is the same just like he when he was seven years old!

 _This can't be real!_ He thought

A loud voice is heard from downstairs.

"Rono, time for breakfast!"

"Mom? Am I really seven again? What year is this?"

He looks for the calendar on his wall. This was the most surprising and shocking thing in his life, it turns out that the year he is in is actually 1997!

"No, this has to be a dream."

His stomach rumbles in hunger.

"I have no choice but to eat anyways." He says as he rubs his stomach.

He opens his bedroom door, goes inside the bathroom to each his face and goes down the stair. The whole way down made him feel something, it made him remember how it felt like to live in Japan as a family. When he went to the dining room, his dad was found reading the news paper, his mom was found cooking the breakfast. What was on the menu were rice, scrambled eggs, two sausage links and orange juice.

"There you are Rono! How's my sleepy boy been doing?" She said playfully.

"I'm fine, just hungry."

"Hey Rono, I heard that the author of the book you were reading is in town giving autographs. Want to go there before we leave?"

"Really, sure!"

 _Somehow I remember this, I would always go to certain libraries where one of my favorite authors are signing books. But something isn't right at this moment, I can just feel it._ He thought.

"Dad, where are we going?"

"Didn't I tell you? Where moving to America!"

 _No, don't tell me today was the last day living here!_ He thought.

 **Back in the real world...**

Before leaving the house, someone rang the doorbell of the intercom. Sakaki walks to it and answers.

"Who's this?"

"Sakaki? It's me Chiyo!"

"Chiyo!" Sakaki said before she lets her finger off of the button of the intercom.

She opens the door to find Chiyo waiting behind the front gates of Sakaki's house. Sakaki opens up the gate to let Chiyo inside.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard about Rono. I wanted to find out if he was fine."

"We were going to the hospital to visit him."

"Really, can I come with?" She said.

"What about your parents?" Sakaki asked.

"My parents are at work, I'm alone in the house."

Sakaki's mother came out of the kitchen to check who was visiting.

"Who's visiting?" She said.

She looks at the small girl recognizing who it was.

"Oh Chiyo! Didn't expect you to come visit!"

"Sorry for the surprise visit! I was wondering if I could come with you all to visit Rono?"

"Sure, what about your parents?"

"They're at work." She replied bluntly.

Sakaki's father would then agree to take Chiyo with them. All of them went into the the mini van that Sakaki's dad also had and then drive all the way to the hospital.

When they enter the hospital, they first sign in with the receptionist.

"May I help you?" The receptionist asked.

"We're here to visit someone."

"Sure thing, may I get the patient's name?

"Rono Takayama."

She types in the name to the PC in front of her and his name pops up.

"Okay, now can you give me everyone's name please, for security reasons of course."

They all gives their names out to the receptionist while she types their names to the guest list. After that was done, she tells them the room number where Rono was located and activates the door of the emergency rooms which is now opened. Through that, there are many nurses, many doctors walking to a certain room. Sakaki's family then search for Rono's room, it was a bit farther away from the door they entered from.

After a while, they found it. They open the door, the first thing they all see was a blue curtain hanging from the ceiling. Sakaki's dad slides away the curtain and finds someone in the room. It wasn't just Rono in the room, but there was a nurse inside the room too! She is found changing the empty nutrient bad with a different liquid bag full of potassium.

"Oh, I'm guessing you're the Sakaki residence, are you?" She said with a mouth cover on her face.

"How do you know?" Sakaki's mother asked.

"His dad visited way early in the morning. He told me that you might visit sometime today, looks like he was right, wasn't he?" The nurse informed.

"So how are things with him?" Sakaki's dad asked.

"Good news is that he's healthy and recovering. Bad news is that he hasn't woke up since last night."

"Strange." He commented.

"I'll make sure to tell you if there's anything wrong going on with him the next time you visit him." The nurse said.

"Thank you Ms...?"

He looks at the name tag on her shirt, it says Fukushima.

"Fukushima."

"You're all welcome."

She opens the door and leaves the room leaving the family and Rono there. They all wait patiently for his awake while Sakaki's father watches the television in the room.

 **In Rono's mind...**

Something strange happened during Rono's state of mind. Time froze for him, nothing could move, not even people, animals and cars! All that moved was just himself. Normally if any other person were in a situation like that, the he would feel helpless and lonely. But for him, it wasn't, he's used to it, all of those times he spent alone at his school and in his room somehow paid off. If his family never existed, then he wouldn't have anyone to depend on, he never had any friends in his life, or so he thinks?

He walks around his quiet, ominous, gloomy and lonely neighborhood. Nothing was in color except for him, nothing in sight was in color, just pure black and white. At this point he gave up hope, he thought that it would be fine for him to never come back to his home. Them some kind of light flashed before his eyes, this light wasn't anything that he's seen before, it had color!

Rono runs as fast as he could towards the light. The closer he got, the light flashes slowly and slowly. Getting there felt like an eternity, but it was all worth it. As soon as he made it to the area of the light, the light stopped making the area black and white. It took a moment for the area to turn back into its original color. When that happened, the area looked like a park, it had a merry-go-round, a slide, monkey bars and finally a pair of swings. The swings were his favorite, but something unexpected happened. There was a girl in the park, Rono and mysterious girl were the only ones who could move.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" Rono said.

The girl heard him and turned around to him. Her face couldn't be shown even if it was sunset. A dark shadow covered her whole face except her body. He notices that this girl looked fairly familiar. Rono then remembers that this girl was the same girl from the dream he had the first day he came to Japan! He runs towards her as fast as possible, when he reached her, he gasped for some air before he could talk.

"I know that this may sound weird but...I think we met somewhere before. So please...can you please tell me your name?"

"What do you mean, you don't remember me?" She said with a distorted voice.

The small shadow on her face starts to disappear little by little.

"I'm your friend, Sakaki!" She said as the shadow finally disappeared.

He stood in total shock and disbelief. When her face was now exposed, he immediately imagined an image of Sakaki in high school. He compared it to her and the one he's looking at right now. It was no doubt, that this was actually her.

"No...this...can't be."


	14. Thirty Seconds of Death

**30 seconds of death**

Never in his life has he thought that the key to his past was in front of him the whole time. Sakaki was the key, and probably the only key to his past. What didn't make sense was this, why didn't Sakaki tell him in the first place. None of this would of happened if she just simply told him. He was happy and at the same time mad at her, but now that he thought this through, it would be likely that he wouldn't believe her.

Suddenly, her childhood friend starts to fade away in front of him leaving him alone.

"Sakaki!" He yelled.

"Please don't be mad at her, she didn't tell you because she cared about you. You can recreate those memories and create more memories with her, please!" A tear starts running down her cheek. It wasn't caused by sadness, but by joy.

"I'll do that, but I don't think I might remember when I wake up." He said in a low tone.

The environment around him transitions to a whole different one. This time, the setting was a bright and beautiful one. When he looks around him, there was an angelic scenery, it looked so peaceful and relaxing. It looked as if this were heaven because there were orbs of light floating around. The main question he had in mind was where exactly could he be.

A voice is heard from behind.

"I see that it's been a long while since I last met with you."

Rono turns around and finds a big yellow cat facing him. It had its hands behind its back. There was another figure beside it, it was undoubtedly a man. He was facing behind him, he had a white suit and white pants. Again, he also looked familiar.

 **In the real world...**

The whole time when Chiyo and the Sakaki residence were staying over with Rono at his hospital room, he never woke up. Sakaki and Chiyo were getting more worried than they should be. Four hours had passed since they visited, it was 1pm already, it was about time for lunch.

"Any of you hungry?" Asked Sakaki's father.

Everyone nods, stomachs are grumbling inside the room.

"I guess we should go back home and eat something there?"

"Yeah...let's do that." Sakaki answered sadly.

Sakaki's father turned off the television and everyone gathered their belongings in the room to leave. Before leaving, Sakaki received a call.

"Huh, who is it?

She takes out her phone, opens it up and it is said that the person calling is Yomi. She answers the call.

"Hello?" Sakaki said.

"Sakaki?"

"Yes?" She responded back.

"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday." Yomi said.

"No need to apologize Yomi, it's fine."

"Where are you at?"

"I'm at the hospital with Rono, I'm going back home to eat lunch, why?"

"Is it okay for me, Tomo and Osaka to visit you over at your house?"

"Sure, but let me ask my parents first."

She covers the microphone of her phone, turns around to her parents and asks them. Since Sakaki has been having a tough time during all of this, the least they can do is at least cheer her up.

"Sure thing." Her father said.

"Thanks!" Sakaki said.

She uncovers the phone's microphone and speaks again.

"They said yes."

"Alright, can you send us your address by text?"

"Sure."

"Great, we'll see you soon!"

"Bye."

She closes her flip phone and walks with her family along with Chiyo. Before leaving the room, she looks at Rono's sleeping body once again.

"I'll be back Rono, please wake up, for our sake?" She said quietly with a smile at the end.

She leave the room and makes her way out of the hospital. When they all made it to the car, they get inside and put on their seatbelts.

"I hope Rono wakes up soon." Chiyo commented.

"I do hope so." Sakaki said.

Her father turns on the engine, looks at side mirror to check if no one was behind the car, drives the car out of the parking lot and then drives off to the street. During the whole way of going home, something changed in the city. Back then, the side walks in Tokyo were sometimes empty. Usually, any busy city would be crowded with people. Now it was back to that, more people filled the sidewalks.

 _Did the city get more crowded because that killer got arrested?_ Chiyo thought.

It took longer than expected to get back home, there was a bit of a traffic jam during the way home. After entering their neighbor hood, they see Tomo and Yomi in front of her house. As the car got closer to the house, they both wave at them.

"You can all get in the house, I'll park the car in the garage while you're at it!"

"Thank you hun, I'll be in the kitchen if any you need me." Said Sakaki's mother.

They all get out of the car except for her father to greet Tomo and Yomi, while Sakaki's mother went inside to cook up lunch.

"Hello Sakaki." Said Yomi.

"Yo." Said Tomo with her hand up.

"Nice to see you again Sakaki." Osaka said.

"Hey Yomi, hey Tomo, hey Osaka." Sakaki's greeted.

"Hi miss Yomi, hi miss Osaka, hi miss Tomo." Greeted Chiyo.

"Oh, you brought the little runt with ya?" Tomo commented.

Chiyo gets annoyed by Tomo's statement for her.

"She came along with us to the hospital."

"How nice of you Chiyo!" Yomi said.

"It was the least I could do." She said with a blush on her face.

Yomi chuckles.

"So how's Rono condition?" Yomi said with a concerned face.

"He's fine, but he hasn't woke up since last night." Sakaki said with a depressed expression.

"At least he's not dead right?" Tomo commented.

"Now's not the time Tomo." Yomi said.

"It's okay, I am glad that he's alive." Sakaki said.

"Same here." Chiyo said.

"We should probably get inside, I want to meet your parents too."

"Me too!" Said Osaka.

"Okay." Sakaki said with a simple answer.

The Azu-group walk inside the house and into the kitchen to greet Sakaki's mother.

"Hello Mrs. Sakaki, it's very nice to meet you." Said Yomi, Tomo and Osaka while bowing down.

"Nice to meet you too!" She said with a happy tone.

Next was Sakaki's father, he recently finished parking the car in the garage, and so he returns. He opens the door from the garage and find the girls in front of him.

"It's very nice to meet you Mr. Sakaki." Said Yomi, Tomo and Osaka while bowing down once again.

"Nice to meet you too girls! Go on and make yourselves at home."

"Will do!" Tomo said.

After two greetings to Sakaki's parents, they go to the living room and sit on the couch together. At the one end of the couch, Osaka is tired out.

"Are you seriously tired already Osaka?" Asked Yomi.

"Uh huh." Osaka said with her eyes closed.

Yomi sighs, then she moves on.

"Anyways, have you been doing fine Sakaki?"

"Im fine, I'm just...depressed."

"I see." Yomi said.

"You said you met Rono when you were both little kids, right?"

"Yes we have." Sakaki responded.

"Can you tell me how you both met?"

"I'm want to know too!" Chiyo said.

"Surprisingly, I also want to know myself too." Tomo said.

"Also I!" Osaka said.

"You all really want to know?"

They all nod.

"Alright let's begin."

Sakaki's clears her throat before she starts to share her cherished memory.

"In all my life, I've been always alone. I would always play by myself at the park, at one point I tried making friends, but they all denied. It was either because they saw me as a 'scary' person or they just didn't want to be my friend. After all of their denials, I spent my time alone at one of the pair of swings. Because of that, it's also what made me get verbally bullied from kids of the park I was at. They made fun of how tall I was, how I scared the kids away and how I was the lone wolf of the park."

"Those kids sure are mean huh?" Tomo commented.

"All of that soon changed when he came up to me." She said with her eyes looking down at the floor. She smiled on how she enjoyed that memory.

"I was sitting on one of the swings when it happened. He was the first to ever talk to me, at first he looked afraid as he was talking to me. I soon found out why as he continued to talk. it was his first time trying to make friends with someone, I was nervous at first but happy at the same time. I never would have imagined that someone like him would spent time with me. It was the happiest moment in my life."

"Then it soon disappeared when he moved to America." Yomi said.

"Exactly." Said Sakaki.

"So you're saying that he was your first and only friend at the time?" Tomo asked Sakaki.

"Yeah."

"Interesting, what did you two do?" Tomo asked again.

"We would mostly play at the park, have sleepovers and sometimes go to any festivals." Sakaki answered.

"You sure are lucky to have a male friend." Said Tomo with her arms crossed.

"I guess." Chiyo said.

"Looks like you had it tough with his absence during all these years, haven't you" Yomi said.

"Yeah."

Yomi wraps both of her arms around everyone.

"Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, we're in this together, got it?"

"Yeah." Said Chiyo, Tomo and Osaka.

"What about you Sakaki?" Yomi said.

"Yeah, we're in this together." Sakaki replied.

"Alright!" Yomi said.

All of them went silent for a short time until Tomo asked Sakaki a question.

"Hey Sakaki, you said that Rono spent the night at your house two weeks ago, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Did you find anything weird after taking a shower?"

"Like what?" Sakaki questioned her.

"Like if any of your panties got covered in like, what should we call it? White stuff."

Sakaki gave a long and hard thought about what she might of meant. After giving it some thought, she finally knew what she meant about the word 'white stuff'. She immediately blushed very hard causing her face to turn pink. Tomo laughs at Sakaki's reaction.

"Tomo, stop reading those kind of magazines!" Yomi yelled.

"What does she mean by 'white stuff'?" Chiyo asked Yomi.

"No no no, don't listen to that numb nut Chiyo!"

"Is it like mayonnaise?" Chiyo said.

This made Tomo laugh even more than she did before causing her to fall to the ground.

 **In Rono's mind...**

"Wait, I remember you in one of my dreams!" Rono asked.

"So you remember your past after all huh?" The yellow cat said.

"Not exactly, all I remember is Sakaki."

"And?"

"I..don't remember what I did with her all of those years. But more importantly, what's going on with my body?"

"As of now, you are in a deep slumber. Recently, your friend Sakaki came to visit you in the hospital. I heard that they left to eat lunch."

Rono gasps at the sudden visit.

"How can I wake up then?"

"I'll tell you later, right now, we have matters to discuss, along with him." The yellow cat points to the figure behind him. The figure then turns around and reveals his face to Rono.

"Hey, it's been a while." He said.

The figure looked exactly like Rono, but he had an angel-like glow around him and was transparent as a ghost.

"W-why do you look like me?" Rono said.

"Let's say, I'm you're...subconscious. I control your every emotion, action and dream."

"So you're the one responsible for my amnesia!" Rono said angrily.

"Actually, it isn't, I listen to every word you say everyday. Even when your just a little kid."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying."

The subconscious turns around and sighs before he reveals the true reason.

"You were the one who commanded me to erase those memories." He said.

Rono gasps from his response.

"No, that can't be true." Rono said.

"That's to be expected from you."

 **At Sakaki's house...**

After the Azu-girls chatted for a while in the living rooms, the food was ready, Sakaki's mother let everyone know about it.

"Kids, the food is ready, come over here and eat up!" She yelled from across the kitchen.

"Okay!" The girls said.

"Ha ha ha, I'm going to be the first one at the table!" Tomo said.

She runs to the kitchen hoping to be the first on the table. To her surprise, Sakaki's dad was already there sitting in one of the chairs!

"Ah what!" Tomo complained.

"Hello there!" He waves at her.

Everyone arrives in the kitchen and sit down by the table where the food was at. All of the girls stood there in awe on how delicious the food looked.

"Well, dig in." Sakaki's mother said.

Before eating, everyone had to say:

"Thank you for the food!"

At that, everyone ate in peace. In the end, everyone got stuffed with the delicious food. It was so good, that the only leftovers were the rice!

The visitors would then help Sakaki's mother out on cleaning the dishes and the table before they went off to leave to their homes.

After the chores, Yomi, Tomo, Osaka and Chiyo left the house minutes ago. Right now, Sakaki's main objective for today was to make Rono a bento for lunch. That is, if he does wake up from him deep slumber. She would help her mother cook up the food for his lunch by first cooking up the scrambled eggs, until it was fully cooked she rolls it up and places it in the bento. The rice was already prepared from the lunch they all had. All they have to do is steam the veggies before placing it in the bento.

"Okay, it's ready." Sakaki's mother said.

 _I hope that he'll like it._ Sakaki thought.

 **Back in Rono's mind...**

"Why would I wish for memory loss, that isn't like me!" Rono said aggressively.

"That's what I thought you would say too. Why don't you ask that to yourself, you got what you wanted!" Said the subconscious.

"I don't know because I don't remember a thing about it nor of anything about my past! Can't I have my memories back since you're the one who controls my thoughts?"

"It doesn't work that way, after I delete a memory, it is permanently deleted, which means it's gone for good, never to be recovered."

"That can't be true, there has to be a way!"

"There isn't."

Rono was halfway into crying.

"There's absolutely no way that I would wish for any kind of memory loss, even if it meant forgetting one thing!"

This made the subconscious of Rono sigh.

"Still don't believe me huh? You're lucky I have this memory saved with me."

The subconscious lifts and puts out his hand towards Rono's direction. This gave a blue mist from the hand, it then hovers towards Rono's head and then sinks inside Rono's brain. This is made him have a long and forgotten flashback. It made Rono the most shocked in his life.

 **Flashback to the day he had to leave Japan...**

It was a very chilly night in Tokyo. The starry sky and the full moon is what made the scenery better. It was late night for the the Takayama family, everyone was exhausted from the constant packing. Rono was about ready to set his bags into the family car. Ronin was moving the last boxes from the house to the moving truck. Aiya was cleaning the empty house before moving to America. It all seemed to be going fine, but for Rono, he began to have mixed emotions. He was furious at his dad for making him move to America with him, he was also sad because he had to leave his house and his first and probably the last friend he wI'll ever have. Yesterday was the day the he said his last goodbye to Sakaki, it was of course the last time they would ever see eachother's faces again. This was the most devastating moment he ever had to experience.

When they finally placed the boxes inside the moving truck and placed their luggage inside the Van, Ronin turned on the engine and began to drive the car to the Tokyo airport. From their, they went inside the airport, left their luggage on the space stock, checked in with their passports and entered the airplane. When the family sat on their seats, Rono's father asked his son a question.

"Hey Rono, are you excited to go to America?" He said with a smile on his face.

Rono stood there in silence, he never responded to him. All he did was stare at the back of the seat in front of him.

"We can have a fresh start in life, you're going to a new school, live in a new house, go to different places and even have a chance to make new friends!"

The last part is what made Rono snap.

"I DONT WANT ANY NEW FRIENDS, I JUST WANT SAKAKI!" He yelled with tears now running down his face.

It caused a scene that made everyone look at the family. Rono jumps out of his seat, runs away from his family and runs to the plane's bathroom.

As soon as he gets inside, he locks the door, sits down in the corner now breaking down with tears.

"Just why, why, WHY! Why is this happening to me, why do I have to leave Japan and my friend behind!" He said hitting the wall with his fist.

"I-I can't suffer like this, t-the more I t-think I about her, the m-more my heart suffers." He cries even more.

 _I can't take this anymore!_ He thought to himself.

"I WISH I WOULD FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING!" He yelled.

Silence filled the air, everyone in the back of the plane heard the loud yell. Without knowing, Rono's wish actually came true. He forgot about his time in Japan a day later. During the whole eight years he spent in America, he felt less emotions than he felt before. All he did was study, study and study, nothing else, not even making any friends during his years of grade school or middle school. Once again, he was the lone wolf of the school and at home. He barely spoke to any of his parents, he spent the whole time in his room either reading or studying.

 **Flashback ends...**

Rono now shocked, cries from his long forgotten memory. That was the main reason why he lost his memories all along, all because of his selfish wish. Now he felt that all of that, was his own fault, he would feel ashamed of waking up and encountering Sakaki again. He didn't want to wake up again.

"I know what you're thinking." Said the transparent version of Rono.

"You probably don't want to face your family, nor Sakaki again, do you?"

"How'd you know?" Rono asked.

"I'm your subconscious, remember? I know your every action and thoughts you do." He pointed his finger at Rono.

"Yeah, right." Rono said.

Right now, Rono sits down with his legs crossed and observing the ground looking depressed. Without knowing what to do next, he just stays there. His subconscious observes the depressed Rono, he walks up to him and sits down beside him with his legs crossed too.

"Wish I could give you back your memories, too bad there's no way in recovering them again."

"It's okay, I don't feel like waking up anyways." Rono said.

"What? You do know your friend is waiting for you to wake up, right?" His subconscious said loudly.

"Nah it's okay, she can just forget me, she has the girls after all."

"What about your parents?"

"They can just have another child."

"That's nonsense, they can't even forget you for even a second Rono! They care about you, even Sakaki's friends are worried about you!"

"Yeah and how do you know?

"Father told me, he knows everything!"

"You mean that giant yellow cat over there?" Rono pointed at the yellow cat.

"Yes."

"Anyways, what did I ever do to Sakaki?"

"What did you do? What would I expect from a person who has amnesia. When you two were little kids, you always accompanied her, you always played with her, you always cheered her on, you always made her smile. In other words Rono, you changed her life, if you never existed, who knows what she could be doing now! She might still be bullied from those kids from the park. If only, if only you knew, you would understand!"

"Well, too bad, I lost my memories with her, I'll probably wake up without remembering a thing about this."

Rono's subconscious sighs.

"You're hopeless."

"If I may interrupt, I have something to tell the both of you!" Father exclaimed causing the two boys to look at him.

"I may have the solution of recovering those lost memories of yours."

"Really, what is it!?" Rono said.

"This process may take a while, but it'll be worth it. However there's a downside to it."

"What's the downside?" Rono asked.

"Death, you will be dead for a short while. Here's how it goes. There are three stages, the first one is high heart rates, after that you die. During the second stage, your soul will be released for thirty seconds out of your body, you'll be able to see what is currently happening out outside your body. Finally the last stage is the part where you get resurrected with all of your memories back as if they never disappeared."

"Well, it's better than nothing, but are you sure that it will give me back all of my memories back?" Rono asked the yellow cat.

"I am positive."

"Alright, let's do this."

"As of now, let me prepare process before we commence. So, sit tight."

Rono does what he is told and waits for him until he activates the method. As for Sakaki, she is in her father's car along with her mother to deliver the lunch and the 'get well' balloons to the sleeping Rono. They were hoping to see him awake somehow during the day. What they didn't know is what was going to happen next and what they'll experience.

 _I hope you wake up soon, I don't want you to leave me, not again, please._ Sakaki thought.

Moving right along, Sakaki and her family checks in with the receptionist and walks all the way to the room where Rono was in. Before they enter the room, Father was about ready to activate the '30 seconds of death' process.

"Are you ready Rono?

He breathes in and out and hopes for his memories to have a return.

"Yes, you may start."

"Affirmative, sub-Rono, give him the red glowing orb!" Father said.

"Yes sir!"

He walks up to Rono and gives him the red orb. The orb looked like a ball filled with red glowing gas, it was a small size to fit in the palm and the sensation of the ball would feel warm who ever was holding it.

"What do I do with this?" Rono asked.

"This Rono, is the key to start the process, in order to begin, you have to crush that orb in your hand."

At first, Rono wasn't sure of this. He had doubts that he would get his memories back when he wakes.

"Rono." Said Rono's subconscious.

He looks up to him as his name was called.

"Do it for Sakaki, she needs you. I know it." He said.

"I'll do it." Rono said.

"Excellent, now, behold the power of resurrection!" Said Father.

Rono crushes the red glowing orb in his palm easily causing the red glowing gas inside it to cover his entire body as if it were consuming him. Right as the gas gets up to his neck, it slowly crawls up to Rono's head. He accidentally breathes in the gas surrounding him. Immediately, the gas glows the brightest it ever can causing sub-Rono and Father to cover their eyes from the brightness. All of the bright red gas rapidly gets inside Rono's mouth all the way to the bottom of his lungs. As it ended and all was inside both of his lungs, he falls to his knees and inhales and exhales constantly. He puts his right arm on his heart area and feels his heart beating to its fastest. All of a sudden, images of Sakaki as a little girl appear in his head. One particular one that he finds surprising is the one where it has Neko-san in Sakaki's arm.

 _I'm coming back Sakaki, coming back as the Rono from back then_! Rono thought.

After a few heart beats, his whole body falls to the ground and fades away to the real world.

Sakaki and her parents were three feet away from the door, a certain event awaits for them. Finally, Sakaki was first to touch the door and open it. She felt that something bad was happening, so she listened inside the room from outside the door, and heard rapid beeping. It turns out that it was the heart monitor that was beeping fast.

"Sakaki!" Her mother said.

She slams open the door with the bento in hand, slides away the curtains and looks at the heavily breathing Rono.

After a few beeps, it stops, this means that Rono has passed away.

"No..no...Rono!" She runs to his body and shakes him.

At this moment, Sakaki's parents come inside and the first thing they both saw was Sakaki shaking Rono, the second thing they saw was the fact that the heart monitor stopped.

"Rono!" Sakaki's mother exclaimed.

"No, no way." Sakaki's father said in shock.

Sakaki's mother runs to his body and her father runs out of the room to get some help and let the nurses and doctors know that someone has passed away.

"Rono, Rono, Rono!" Sakaki yelled as tears start developing in her eyes which now results to her crying out of sadness.

Meanwhile, his spirit blooms out of his body now in a glowing cyan colored state. During the process, he feels relieved, nothing was in his way, there were no worries and no noise. That was the only time he felt truly relaxed since forever. Soon, it ended in an instant. When he opens his eyes, he finds himself floating above his body, he looks down and finds Sakaki and her mother crying, beside his own corpse. Her father is nowhere to be found.

"Sakaki!" He said out loud.

Rono tries calling them, but there was no answer. He was now a pure spirit. Ten seconds have passed, one specific memory came into mind. Right as Sakaki continued crying, he at last remembered the last time he encountered Sakaki from his childhood.

"Sakaki, you really do care about me. I still don't know how I changed your life though." He said.

Ten more seconds passed and it triggered another memory in his mind. This time it was about him with Sakaki along with the cat with Neko-san. He finally remembers more about Sakaki's love for cats. He was the one who made her get over her fear over pets.

"He he he, so that's how you got to loving cats."

At five seconds that passed, the last and most important memory appeared once again. This was the memory when he first met Sakaki, he was a naïve kid when it came to talking to random people. He remembers that he was the first one to start with their first conversation with the words saying:

 _So..what's your name?_

His eyes widen in shock as he remembered.

"We really we're friends! I remember now!"

He looks at Sakaki with a sad face.

"I promise that I'll never leave you again, especially when it comes to my friends."

The last five seconds pass finally, he is now able to return to his body.

He hovers over to his body and hears a voice saying something to him.

"Welcome back."

Before going back to his body, he looks back and finds Father behind him.

"Thanks." Rono smiled, the big yellow cat fades away as Rono entered his own body again.

After seconds, the heart monitor starts beeping again. Sakaki and her mother stop crying and look at the heart monitor. They look back at Rono again, he slowly opens his eyes and breathes for some air. The moment he opens his eyes, he finds Sakaki in his sight, she is the first person to be seen by Rono after death.

"Sakaki."

"Rono." Sakaki said as she sobs.

She immediately hugs him tightly, he hugs her back.

"You never hugged me this tight ever since the last time we last talked to each other at the park." He said with a tired voice.

Her eyes widen in surprise as she heard him say those words.

"Rono, you remember!" She said.

"Yeah."

She smiled when he confirmed it.

"I'm very sorry that I left you back then." Rono apologized.

"It's okay, it was for the best. Your father needed that job." Sakaki forgived him.

"It's not okay! You don't know how hard I cried when I got on that plane!"

This was the first time she heard that someone cried for her. He was the one and only boy who cried for her.

"I-I'm glad...that you..remember again." She said as she sobs and starts crying tears of joy on Rono's chest.

"There there, no need to cry, I'm alive." He starts crying a bit too.

They both cry a bit longer and then stop. Rono notices her mother watching them.

"Oh hello Ayano!" He said.

"Wait, how did you know my name?" Said Sakaki's mother.

"Like I said, I remember again."

"Do you know my husband's name?" She asked.

"It's Yuudai."

 _He really does remember?_ She thought.

"So now you remember your past?" Ayano asked.

"Yep, every thing." He replied.

"I'm glad, welcome back Rono." Sakaki said with one last hug.

"I'm glad to see you all again, it's great to be back." Rono said with a smile on his face.


	15. Aftermath (Nostalgia Arc finale)

**Aftermath**

After all of the events that occurred after the resurrection, memories were finally recovered once again since all of those years. As soon as Rono woke up from his long and deep slumber, everything got explained to Yuudai, the doctors and the nurses. They stood in utter silence during the whole time. They thought it was an absolute miracle that he came back to life thirty seconds later! After the whole explanation, the doctors became fully aware of his condition. They decided to be extra observant with him by sending more than one nurse at a time in his room. Because of the wounds he has and the blood loss, he'll have to stay for two more days in the hospital room until he can go back to school. Ronin never came back that day because he had to sign documents from work, so he never had time to visit.

Now that he remembers, Sakaki doesn't have to keep secrets from him any longer! She can finally talk to his child hood friend once again without him forgetting about the times they played with each other when they were little kids.

When it began to get dark, Mrs. Fukushima told Rono that he should start to prepare on going to sleep. He felt a bit uneasy when he heard her, this was his first time sleeping in the hospital. After all of the following events that happened before, he was unsure about the situation. Sakaki was oddly the first one to notice him acting strange. When the nurse left, she came up to him asked him what was wrong while her parents were discussing things with the doctors outside of the room.

"Rono, anything the matter?" She asked.

"Oh, uh." He wasn't too sure how to answer her, so he tried lying to her.

"N-nothing at all." He said while rubbing the side of his elbow.

She wasn't convinced from his answer.

"I know there's something." She said.

"Uh, w-what makes you say that?" Rono asked.

"Ever since we were little kids, you always had the habit to rubbing the side of your elbow whenever you're lying!" She said.

He sighs, she caught him red handed.

"You got me." He said.

She had a concerned look on her face.

"What's wrong? You can tell me anything."

"You sure you won't tell anyone?"

"We pinky promised remember?"

He thinks about it for a while and remembers how it went.

 **Flashback to the year 1997...**

It was a nice and bright evening at the park, there were gentle breezes from the wind, the sun was close to setting and the sun shines over the park. At this time, Rono and Sakaki would prepare to sit down on the highest hill of the park before the sun would set. Something came up in his mind, he was well aware that his friend was taller than him. He thought because of his size, he would get in Sakaki's way.

"Sakaki?"

"Mhm?" She nods.

"Am...I..annoying?" Rono asked.

She was confused on why Rono would ask that.

"What makes you say that?" She asked.

"I thought that since I'm shorter than you, maybe I would get in your way of things."

"Rono, height doesn't matter, you're fine just the way you are."

"You're not lying?"

"I'm not lying." Sakaki said.

"Really?" Rono said as he looked up to her face.

This caused Sakaki to sigh. She stood up and then squats down to tell him something face to face.

"Let's do this, let's promise to never keep secrets from each other again, sound good?"

"Okay."

"Pinkie promise?" She said with her pinkie poking out.

"Pinkie promise!" Rono said happily as his pinkie hugs her's, now meaning that they'll keep the promise.

 **Flashback ends...**

"Wow, I forgot about that. You really remember that?" Rono asked her.

"Always have, always will."

She made him chuckle, it then ended with the both of them laughing it out.

"I'm glad that I'm friends with you." Rono said causing her to blush.

"Um, anyways, why did you look so worried?" Sakaki changed the subject.

"Oh, well, you see, this is my first time sleeping in a hospital. So, erm, I'm a little, um...nervous." He gulped.

"Oh, nothing to be ashamed about." Sakaki responded.

"Easy for you to say! You never slept in a hospital alone before!" Rono said.

"I guess so."

She tries thinking a way that would make things easier for him. After a few seconds of brainstorming, a new idea popped up.

"How about if I sleep here for the night?" Sakaki exclaimed.

"Sleep here? I don't think that's a great idea, you need your beauty sleep, don't you?" Rono said.

"Don't worry about it, I'll sleep as soon as I crawl in to bed."

"If you say so."

"Great! I'll ask my parents."

She walks out of the room and looks for her parents. They are found talking to one of the doctors, her father was the one doing most of the talking while her mother back him up. She runs up to them and asks her mother first.

"Mother, can I sleep over with Rono for the night?" She asked.

Ayano fully surprised at the sudden question, replies to her immediately.

"As long as he's okay with it." Ayano said.

"He's fine with it."

"All right, we'll go home to prepare your clothes."

"Thank you mother!" Sakaki said as she hugged her mother.

"You're welcome, sweet heart." She hugged back.

She then goes back to the room and tells him the news. Rono surprised at her mother's response, he gladly accepts her accompany for the night.

"I'll be back." Sakaki said.

"I'll be waiting." Rono said to Sakaki with a smile as she returns it too.

She leaves the room once again and waits for her parents to finish up the conversation with the doctors. After a long while of talking, Yuudai and Ayano finally wrapped it up and left with Sakaki. Yuudai drove Sakaki and Ayano back to their home. When they made it home, Sakaki would go to the shower room to cleanse herself, washing off all of that emotional pain she had for the day. When she takes a bath, she would think about her childhood friend, looking up at the ceiling in the bathtub.

"Thank goodness, Rono has finally recovered his memories again. Which means we can finally go back how we used to." A tear ran down her right cheek.

Without realizing, she began to shed tears, but these weren't just any kind of tears, but tears of joy. She starts chuckling on how she suddenly started crying.

"I'm just glad you're back Rono." She said.

When done taking a shower and a bath, she walks to her room upstairs to change into her pajamas and then covering herself with a jacket on her upper body while she wears sweatpants to cover the lower part of her body. The next step she has to do is to get some spare clothes for the next day and place it in a small suitcase. When that is done, she walks downstairs and tells her father that she is now ready to leave. Her father decides to drive her to the hospital to Rono.

"I'll drive you there, just let me go get my keys. I'll be back honey." Yuudai told Ayano.

"Bye sweetie." Ayano responded while blowing a kiss to him which caused him to chuckle. Sakaki blushes at the scene between her mother and father.

Yuudai goes to the front door where he left his car keys by a table beside the door. He opens the door, walks to his small car which is able to hold four people, opens the car door, sits down, puts on his seatbelt and starts the engine. Sakaki on the other hand opens the gate and waits for her father to drive the car out of the gate and then closes the gates as he gets out. She then opens the right door of the car, sits down in her car seat, closes the door and puts on her seat belt.

"Ready?" Yuudai said.

"Ready." Sakaki responded.

And that, Yuudai drives Sakaki to the hospital.

Things went on a different turn, it was 1am in the morning. When outside, the bright moon shines on the city, barely any cars in the city's streets, few people walking on the side walks. Stores, family restaurants, bars and grocery stores were closed, except for the convenience stores. Things were calmer for the people in Tokyo now that there is no major danger. However for Sakaki, she began to get worried that Rono might of fallen asleep on her. She thought with Rono's condition, he would likely be.

The ride was shorter than expected when they made it to the hospital in 7 minutes. To make sure things didn't go wrong, Yuudai accompanied Sakaki to Rono's room. When they both made it to the door where Rono was in, Sakaki hopes for the best.

"I'm guessing that this is the part where I leave, right?"

"Oh no, you don't have to!" Sakaki said in her usual quiet tone.

"Nah, it's okay. I'm tired anyways." He turns around and tells her one more thing.

"Don't be too lovey-dovey with each other."

This caused Sakaki to blush.

"It's not like that!" She responded.

"Ha ha, just kidding. Good night." He said to his daughter.

"Good night." She said.

Yuudai walks our of the exit and leaves to home. Sakaki takes a deep breathe before she opens the door. Her tension started to increase as the door knob slowly twists. She opens the door then closes it quietly. The curtains were still in the way, so the nurse recently came here to do something with the IV. She decides to open the curtains slowly to avoid any noise that would wake up Rono. To her surprise, Rono was up and awake looking outside the window in the dark room. He then took notice of her arrival.

"Welcome back." He said.

"You're still awake?"

"Yeah."

"But you need your sleep." Sakaki said.

"I was waiting for you, I wanted to at least see you one more time before I sleep."

She smiles at her friend and sits on the small couch in the room to sleep on. She takes off her jacket and sweatpants to reveal her pajamas.

"Still like those cat pajamas huh?"

"Yeah, I sometimes wear it." Sakaki said with a blush of embarrassment.

Sakaki takes out her blanket out of her bag and covers herself with it.

"Good night Rono." She said.

"Good night Sakaki." Rono said.

After that, the two friends sleep at the same time. Sakaki now had a calmer dream while Rono dreams of one of the memories he had with Sakaki during their childhood. Sakaki has nothing to worry now, with her friend on her side, she can feel a bit more confident in most situations now. Friends really are a special kind of relationship in life.

The next day which then transitioned to Sunday morning, Sakaki was first to wake up, Rono was still asleep. She lifts up her head and then her upper body to check if Rono was awake. Since he wasn't, she takes out a magazine from the small coffee table beside her and reads while she waits for Rono's awakening. It took at least an hour for him to wake, Sakaki finished reading most of the magazine while she was waiting.

Rono turns his body to the right and slowly opens his eyes. The first sight he sees is Sakaki reading a magazine on the couch.

"Morning Sakaki." Rono said in a tired voice.

"Morning." Sakaki said.

"What are you reading there?"

Sakaki started to think of excuses of telling him she wasn't reading any cat magazines. But she remembered that he was her friend that she had trusted fully since back in the day. There was nothing to be ashamed of anyways, so she told him.

"A cat magazine." Sakaki said in her usual voice used at school.

"That's cute, can I see?" He said.

Sakaki sighed in relief, it was a good thing that he liked cats too. She stood up and dragged her seat close to Rono's right side of the bed to show him the cat pictures. They both shared a friendly moment with each other, Sakaki would show him her personal favorites and she would talk about one of the articles that the magazine had to him. This was something they had in common for a long time.

This reminded Sakaki of the time when they both had a sleep over at her house. For half of the day, they would either play on her back yard or stay in her room all day looking at cute animal pictures in the magazine. Both had a long history together as best friends. As the conversations ended, the nurse who had the name tag that said 'Fukushima' came inside the room with a tray of breakfast.

"Good morning Rono." The nurse said.

She looked at the tall girl in the room.

"Oh I didn't know that there was going to be guests here, I'll bring up another tray of breakfast!" She said.

"Oh no you don't have to."

"Not so fast young lady, you need your energy for the day, I'll be back with your food."

And thus, she places the tray on Rono's bed and leaves the room to get Sakaki's plate.

"A girl like you shouldn't delay breakfast, you know. You need it as much as I do." Rono said.

"I know, sorry." Sakaki said.

"No need to apologize, the least you can do is eat breakfast with me." He insisted.

"If you say so." She waits patiently for the nurse to arrive with her tray.

Later, the nurse came back with Sakaki's food.

"Here you go."

"Thank you so much." Sakaki said.

"You're welcome, tell me if you need anything, okay Rono?"

"Right." Rono said.

"I'll be off, have a nice breakfast you two." The nurse said.

She then leaves the room leaving the two alone again.

"Alright time to dig in." Rono said.

But as always, they were thanked for the food.

"Thank you for the food!" Said Rono and Sakaki as they clapped their own hands together. They then begin to eat, as they progressed, a new topic has been brought up.

"I had a question in mind for a while now."

"What is it?"

"Where's Neko-san." He blurted out.

This surprised Sakaki and stopped her from eating any more.

"What about her?"

"Where is she?"

"S-she." She hesitated to tell him the answer, but it was no good to keep anything from him, especially the promise they both made.

"She's been sent to an animal shelter." She said.

His eyes widen in shock, this was a sad thing for him too. Stray animals would have to stay in the cage for a long while, maybe their whole lives. But what made him worry more was how the animal shelter would treat the animals, they could treat them carefully or become extremely cruel to them.

"Do you know of her condition?" Rono asked.

"I'm not sure." Sakaki said.

"I miss her, I remember how she would always sleep at the park and we would pet her while she was asleep." He smiled as he thought about the memory.

"What should we do?" Sakaki asked.

He starts brainstorming for any idea that would set Neko-san free. But he had his own ideas.

"Aha, you said that your mother was allergic to cats, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"How about if I adopt Neko-san?"

"You really think you can do that?" Sakaki asked.

"The landlord of my apartment building allows pets."

"That's great news!" Sakaki said in delight.

"That means I can finally give her a nice home." Rono said.

"She won't have to suffer anymore, when are you planning to adopt him?" Sakaki said.

"Probably tomorrow."

"You're leaving tomorrow?" Sakaki asked.

"Yeah, but I won't be able to go to school though. The nurse told me I'll be out sometime around 3pm."

"Oh that's good news."

"I guess, but I really want to see Yomi, Tomo, Chiyo and Osaka again!" He said.

"I know, but your health comes first. You just have to stay here one more day and we'll reunite again. Seem like a plan?"

"Yeah, let's do that. On the day I come back to school, maybe you and the others can come visit my place for a small reunion."

She chuckles at how they're already making plans for each other so fast.

"Sure, I'd like that." She smiled.

 **The next day...**

It was now Monday, which meant it is now a school day for most of the kids. Even though Rono was now capable to go to school now, he still couldn't go back home yet. It was planned that he would be leaving sometime at 3pm, school would already be over anyways. He was told that his dad had to sign a few papers regarding his medical information. It's been a long while since he's seen his dad in person again.

While Rono's dad was in one of the hospital's offices, he began signing some of the papers. Meanwhile, Ms. Fukushima was sent some of Rono's clothes from his dad, they were brand new, recently bought from the store. This allowed Rono to finally take a shower, so he takes one in the bathroom which also was a shower head on the wall.

After all of his time in bed, it has been a while since he actually walked on the ground. The legs felt a tad weak at first, but his legs were soon adjusted after a few stand ups. On the first drop of water from the shower, chills went down his spine, after so long, he felt truly relaxed and purified. He was happy to live again.

When done taking a shower, he would opens the door slightly to tell the nurse that he was going to change. The nurse nods, gets up, closes the curtains from the window, walks behind the others curtains that was located beside the door and closes it to give Rono privacy. As everyone would do, he dries every part of his body up, then he puts a leg through the holes of the boxers one leg at a time, puts on his jeans, next he puts on his fresh and white shirt. He looks through the bag that came with the clothes to see if there was a deodorant. Indeed there was, there was a note attached with it too, it said this.

 _Thought you might need this_

 _-Ronin_

"Thanks dad." Rono said.

He opens up the deodorant and uses it, after finishing, he tells the nurse that he was now packed up and ready to go.

"Good, I'll lead you to your father downstairs, he should probably be finished by now."

She walks with him to the elevator and presses the floor 1 button. As the number gets close from 22 to 1, she tells him one last thing before he leaves.

"Rono."

"Yes?"

"You go to Cherry Blossom Highschool, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Any chance that you know a student named Tod Fukushima?" she asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know!"

"He's my son."

"Oh, no wonder."

"Do you any chance talk to him too?"

"In fact, I do, we sometimes talk and help each other out on some things." Rono said.

"That's nice, tell him I said hi when you go back to school."

This gave Rono a new question to ask.

"Oh, aren't you going back home with him?"

"No, I have to stay here for a few days. It's sad really." Said the Ms. Fukushima.

"Do you stay here often?" Rono asked.

"Yes I do."

"That explains." He muttered.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The day I bumped into Tod at the mall that day, he told me he had to go to a convenience store to buy some groceries for his little sister. I was wondering why he would do that. Speaking of it, where's his father?"

"We...divorced." She said in a depressed tone.

"Oh...I'm sorry that I brought that up." Rono apologized.

"It's alright really, that was way long ago."

"But still, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about, it was all in the past."

Before they knew it, they made it to the first floor. The moment the elevator slid open, Ronin was in front.

"Have a nice day." Ms. Fukushima said with a warm smile.

"Thank you, you too."

He runs to his dad that was standing by the counter.

"Dad!" Rono yelled out.

"Rono!" Ronin said.

They both join in a heartwarming father and son hug.

"It's been so long!" Rono said.

"It has been." Ronin said.

They both hugged each other tighter until they finally departed.

"I heard what happened, that was way too close. All of that could of been avoided if you hadn't ran to the street to save that cat."

"Speaking of the cat, there's something I want to do first."

"What is it?" Ronin asked.

"This might take a while, let's sit down for a minute." Rono said.

He leads his father to the waiting seats and tells him the whole story. Ronin was told about the whole situation regarding Neko-san. All about how she was with him since he was little kid and the fact about adopting her.

"I see, so this cat has been with you since the beginning."

"Correct."

"I know that you want to adopt this cat, but that cat is way older than its lifespan you know?"

"I know."

"Fine, I'll let's you adopt it. But since this is an old cat, you do know what's to come, right?"

"I know what's to come. But the least I could do, is repay her with a cozy home instead of her sleeping on the cold and dangerous streets."

Ronin sighs, he is left with no choice but to accept.

"Alright, where's the animal shelter?"

"It's close to my local convenience store." Rono said.

"Then off we go." Ronin said.

They both go to the animal shelter where Neko-san was located. Since they both came from the hospital, it took them 10 minutes to get there. When Ronin parked his police car, they both get out of the car and enter the building. On the first sight, they encounter a receptionist on the counter, it was a male that looked like he was in his thirties. He had glasses, little strains of white hair because of his age showed up, he was seen looking through one of the documents on his desk. When the door closed, he looked up at them.

"Welcome, what can I do for you today?"

"We would like to adopt a pet." Rono said.

"You sure about that, are you responsible enough?"

"Yes I am." Rono replied.

The receptionist turned his face towards Rono's father.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's a responsible person."

"Alrighty then, what kind of pet do you want?" The receptionist asked.

"A cat."

"Oh, we just got a new one delivered here just three days ago!"

"Is the cat's fur white and covered with brown spots!?" Rono exclaimed.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"That's the one I'm adopting!"

"Wow, made your choice already huh? You two come with me, just to make you sure about your choice."

The receptionist lead the two through the door where all the pets were located. All of them were placed in a cage individually. The part of the room where Neko-san was located was way farther from where they had entered.

"This is the one." Said the receptionist as he pointed at the cage which was at the lower level.

Rono looks through the cage and sees Neko-san again, but something was off. She was lying in the ground looking at the opposite side of the metal wall. She was depressed, depressed of not being able to go outside again, or is that what she thought?

"Hey, Neko-san." Rono said.

She immediately recognized the voice and turned her head around right away.

"It is you, I knew it. Come on you're living with me now." He smiled.

She runs to the exit of the cage and waits for it to open.

"All right then, I'll open this cage, but after that." The receptionist said.

The receptionist turns his head to Ronin.

"You need to fill in some papers."

"As expected." Ronin commented.

"I'll open this cage for ya." He said to Rono.

The moment the cage opened, Neko-san jumps inside Rono's arms.

"He he he, glad you're back." He chuckles.

Ronin went to the office to fill some papers involving the insurance, the agreement of taking care of the cat and filling in an application about your living quarters.

Once that was done, Rono is now the official pet owner of Neko-san. Leaving the animal shelter, Ronin asks his son if he has something else to do.

"Anything else you have in mind?"

"Actually, yes I do, can you please take me to the pet store?"

"Sure, you buying food and supplies for the cat?"

"Exactly."

And thus, they visit the pet store, along with Neko-san. They go to every aisle to buy his cat a scratching post, a litter box, a bowl and a bag full of cat food. Ronin suggested that he would buy them instead, but Rono declined. When they acquired them, Rono buys all of it with his own money. That was all it for Rono's errands for the day. He asks his father one more favor which is to take him to his apartment building.

When arriving, Rono and Ronin get out of the car while Rono has Neko-san in his arms. Soon, Ronin tells Rono that he wouldn't be coming back to see him again because he had to go wrap up some things at the station and then leave to America again.

"It's been nice seeing you again, dad."

"It sure has, too bad I can't stay for a while longer. I have to go back to the police station and wrap things up. But hey, maybe your mom and I will someday visit you?"

"Yeah, I'll be waiting." Rono said.

"Sure thing." Ronin replied.

Ronin turns around and walks to his car, then he suddenly stops.

"Oh, and one more thing." Ronin said.

"Make sure to take care of Sakaki. I'm sure you wouldn't want her to be hurt, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be sure to take care of her!"

Ronin chuckles.

"Right, goodbye."

"Bye, tell mom that I said hi!"

"Sure thing." He waved at him before he got inside the car.

Rono watches his father drive the car out of the parking area and watches him drive until he drives out of his sight,

He looks at his apartment building and smiles.

"This is your new home, welcome home Neko-san." He whispered.

 **The end of the Nostagia Arc**

 **Takino Arc coming soon...**


	16. (Ar) -C1-

**A new beginning**

 **(Start of Takino arc)**

 _At last, I'm finally back._ Rono thought.

It was now Tuesday morning, today was the day he could finally return to school. After all of the things that had happened to him the past week, he was relieved to be back again. Especially the thirty seconds of death phase he had to go through before resurrecting. It was a tough time he had to go through, when he was a pure spirit hovering over his dead body, he could feel a deep and depressing feeling in his heart. The moment he saw Sakaki and her mother crying and mourning over his death, he felt guilty for letting them into the state they were in. He couldn't bare to see his loved ones cry for anything like that, even for the smallest of things. He decided on something, as soon as he returned, he promised to make everyone happy, sure there will be some heartbreaking moments, but he'll at least end it in the most heart warming ending possible.

He arrives at the school gates, there were a few people facing him, some were heard gossiping about him. Did he do something wrong, was there something wrong with his clothes? He checks his clothes and his hair, nothing wrong. Ignoring the situation, he walks over to his locker to place his outside shoes and wear the indoor shoes the school provided.

The strangest thing of them all, was the fact that the deeper he walked into the school, the more people started watching him. This made Rono uncomfortable, considering that he doesn't like to stand out in crowds. Although, it wouldn't make a difference with his height. He stands five feet and 10 inches, just an inch taller than Sakaki.

He tries ignoring the people around him as he walks to his classroom. With each step he took, he starts shaking nervously. This tells him that today might be a slightly nerve racking day.

He opens the door of his classroom, the first thing that caught his eye, is the sight of Sakaki talking to her friends. Rono gets inside and closes the door behind him. Immediately after he shuts the door closed, Sakaki looks at his direction and smiles.

"Rono." She said quietly without anyone hearing.

"Hey it's Rono!" Chiyo exclaimed.

They all run to his location of the room and surround him.

"Are you okay?" Said Chiyo being the first one to ask.

"I'm completely fine and healthy, Chiyo." He smiled as he rubbed the top of Chiyo's head causing her to blush.

"I heard what happened, that was a close one." Yomi said.

"It sure was." He said.

"We almost lost you there Rono." Tomo said in a sad tone while looking down to the ground avoiding eye contact.

"Something wrong?" Rono asked.

"I-I'm sorry." She replied.

"For what?" He asked again.

"F-for, causing you trouble." She said.

"Like what trouble?"

"You know, the time when I argued with Yomi back at the library."

"Oh, that."

"Yomi told me how it bothered you, I'll try not to take things too far next time."

"No need to be so hard on yourself, it's normal for friends to fight sometimes. But it's never acceptable for friends to be this cruel to each other."

He places his hand on Tomo's right shoulder.

"Don't worry about me. Another thing I don't like is when one of my friends end up sad. So, try not doing that, okay?"

"I'll try, besides I can't help not teasing other people." She said.

"How did it feel to become a ghost?" Osaka asked out of no where.

Pure silence occurred for all of them.

"I think this is the wrong time to ask that, Osaka." Yomi said.

"But I'm curious." Osaka said.

"Oh well, let me see. When I became a ghost, I felt calm and stress free." Rono said.

"Did you fly?" Osaka asked.

"Actually, I did, it was fun for a while."

Then school bell rang after his response. Rono walks to his seat as well as everyone else. Just as he sits down, he looks to his left to find Sakaki staring right at him.

"Sorry for not saying hello Sakaki."

"It's fine, at least you're getting close to them." Sakaki said.

Rono looks at Yomi, Tomo, Osaka and Chiyo.

"Yep, I sure am." He said.

Class starts and the teacher opens the door and shuts it when she comes in. She looks at the back of the room to search for Rono's seat. When she found him, she says something.

"So you're back huh?" Yukari said.

Of course, Rono did not hear because he was in the way back of the room.

Yukari goes to her desk and does role call for attendance.

After that was done, she tells everyone to continue the work from yesterday.

"Hey Sakaki, what's the work about?"

"It's a packet that we have to turn in next week on Monday. We're all suppose to work in partners."

"Oh, who your partner?"

"Kaorin." She said.

"Hm, I wonder who's left to partner up?"

Yukari then calls out someone.

"Rono Takayama! I would like to speak with you." She said in a loud voice.

He stands up and walks to the front of the room.

"Yes ma'am?" Rono said.

"I heard of what happened last Friday, are you sure that you're able to focus today?" Yukari asked.

"Yes."

"All right, right now, we're working on a packet related to the Tales of of two cities book. It is required that you work in partners, but since you were absent yesterday, there's only one person left."

"And who's that?" He asked the teacher.

"Tod Fukashima!" She called him.

He turns to her way.

"You're paired up with Rono!" She said.

"Sure thing."

"Okay, thank you." Rono said.

He turns around and walk to him.

"Don't slack off you two!"

"We won't!" They both said.

Minutes after working, Tod interrupts the silence between them.

"I heard what happened."

Rono's eyes widen.

"How did you know?"

"On Saturday, one of the news reporters announced your name on live television."

"They what!" Rono shouted.

"Yeah, somehow, you're highly known, in a way. They just heard your name, but they didn't see your face. Your face was blurred out when they showcased the shooting."

"Phew. What a relief." Rono said.

"What's wrong with that?" Tod asked.

"Let's just say I don't really like it when many people look at me at the same time, and I also don't like it when I stand out to people. It makes me uncomfortable."

"Hm, sounds like you. Although, it still wouldn't make a difference even if you tried not to stand out, look at your height. You're just as tall as Sakaki, she doesn't mind standing out, how come you don't like it?"

"We both are different people. Besides, Sakaki is Sakaki, she is way superior than me."

"I guess so."

After the first topic they talked about, they were finished with the first portion of the packet.

"Wow, that was a handful." Tod commented.

"Really? That was just the beginning, I can still do more." Rono said.

"Well, this is probably one of your best subjects, considering that you know how to speak English."

"But I still have a long way to learn more."

"Anyways, let's change the subject." Tod said.

"Okay what?" Rono said.

"You hang out with Tomo right?"

"That's right."

"Is she usually energetic and loud."

"She really is loud if I say so myself."

"You think anybody would ever fall for her?" Tod asked as he leaned back from his desk.

With that, Rono then became curious as to what made Tod ask him these question relating to Tomo.

"What do you mean by 'fall for her'?"

"I mean fall in love with her."

"I doubt it."

"Well you're wrong."

"What?" Said Rono now confused from his response.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone about this okay?" Tod whispered into Rono's ear.

"Unless if you blackmail me, then I will. In other words, I won't tell anyone." Rono promised.

Tod picks himself up.

"All right!" Tod breathes in and out before telling him the secret.

"Apparently, a friend of mine has a crush on her." Tod had revealed.

"No way, what's his name?

"Kanaye Nakahara." He pointed to him across the room.

"Wait, he's the same guy who helped out Tomo in the hallway!" He said.

"Yeah. He told that the sole and main reason why he helped her out was because he wanted to be close to her. Lucky for him, he got to race against Tomo back at the pool."

"So you're telling me this, why?"

"I somehow feel that I want to pair the two up, but it'll be hard for me since I don't even talk to Tomo or any of the girls. Luckily, there's you."

"I don't think I'll be much help, but I'll do what I can."

"Great, should we meet up in the cafeteria?" Tod asked.

"I don't know, I'll have to to tell Sakaki and the others first."

"Sure, tell me how it goes."

The school bell rings, it is time for second period.

"We'll continue this tomorrow." She turns to the door.

"I really need some sleep." She complained.

Minutes later, Kimura walked inside and waited for the bell while reading a magazine. People started making guesses on what he was reading. Some thought it could be related to his obsessions or something else.

As soon as the bell rang, Kimura stood up and called for attendance. When he made it to Rono's name in the list, he looks over at his desk.

"Oh you're here! Come see me after I finish up with attendance." Kimura said.

Everyone looked over at him causing him to feel uneasy. Shortly, Kimura announced the next lesson they were going to go over today.

"Please take out your notebooks, we're going to take notes about World War 2."

This was his queue to go up to him and find out what he wanted. He does what he was told from him.

"I heard what happend recently on the news, do you need time to adjust?" Kimura asked.

"Oh no, don't worry about me." Rono said.

"I should worry, you're one of my students, as a teacher, I have to do what I can to help my students."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really, and don't worry about my obsession, it's not actually true. I find the high school girls cute, but there's no way that I'll cause any harm to them. That would just make me a pedophile, right?" Kimura said.

"I guess you're right." Rono commented.

"Reason why I said it that day is because I wanted to give the girls a reason to pass this class."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"In a way I guess, don't tell them that I'm lying though. Anyways, just take the notes that I write on the board. You're excused from yesterday's activity."

"Okay, thanks."

"You're welcome."

During the whole time of history class and classic literature, the lunch bell rang. It was time for Rono to meet up with Tod and his friend Kanaye. He looks over at Tod and sees him move his mouth seemingly saying:

 _Meet us downstairs!_

Rono nods to him and walks to the Azu-group.

"Hey guys, is it fine if I eat at the cafeteria? I have to meet someone, it'll just be for this one time."

"Fine with me." Yomi was first to respond.

"Are you meeting with the president, or you on a secret mission to destroy some extraterrestrial creature?" Osaka asked.

"No Osaka, nothing like that." He said with a confused face.

"You have to settle things relating with a girl?" Tomo asked.

"Um, something like that." He said scratching his head with his index finger.

He walks away after her question.

"Woah, did he get a girl?" Tomo commented.

"I don't think so, but even if he did, why would he keep it hidden from us?" Chiyo said.

"Wouldn't sound like him at all too." Yomi said.

As soon as Rono left the room, Sakaki was watching him leaving all the way from her desk with her bento on top of her desk. She was worried that something bad could be happening.

When arriving at the cafeteria, he first gets in line to get his lunch. Just like everyday, he gets to the machine where you receive a paper with your order and then redeem it to the lunch lady. Upon receiving the lunch, he walks to the middle of the cafeteria and hopes to find Tod and his friend Kanaye somewhere at one of the tables nearby. He looks around the room and finds them eating on a table on the far side of the room by a big window. He walks to them and Tod waves at him as comes closer to them.

He sits down on one of the three empty seats and sets his lunch on the table.

"It's great that you made it!" Tod said to Rono.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Rono looks at the other person sitting by him.

"You must be Kanaye, right?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Nice to meet you." He stood up nervously from his seat and bows down to him. Rono stands up and bows down in return.

"Rono Takayama, nice to meet you too."

They sit and start the main topic they were there for.

"So, Tod told me about your love for Tomo. Is that true?"

Kanaye surprised by his sudden question, turns to Tod.

"You told him already!?" He said to Tod.

"Oh, I wasn't suppose to tell him?" Tod whispered.

Kanaye nods.

Tod leans closer to Rono's face.

"I was lying the whole time." Tod said.

"It's too late now!" Kanaye yelled.

"Not convinced either." Rono commented.

"Well, I tried bro." Tod said.

"As if!" Kanaye said.

"Well, it did seem kind of obvious."

"What? How?" Kanaye asked.

"The day when you volunteered to help her clean up her mess in the hallway."

"Really? I do hope that nobody else knows about my secret, especially her." Kanye said.

"Don't worry about it, I don't think that she suspects it." Tod said.

"Anyways, what do you see in her?" Rono asked.

"What do you mean? Kanaye asked.

"I mean, what makes you like her so much?"

"Let me see." He thinks about it for a moment and then continues with a response.

"I like the way she looks, she looks so pretty to me. At times, I find her cute when she's energetic."

"I think he means he likes them flat chested." Tod commented.

"That's not what I mean!" Kanaye said with a slight blush.

"Flat chested? You mean you like guys?" Rono said.

"No, I meant flat chested girls!" Tod said.

"What's so good about chest size?" Rono asked.

Tod and Kanaye both gasp.

"He's clueless." Said both Tod and Kanaye while slouching down.

The three high school boys were halfway done with their lunch.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Rono was first to break the silence.

"Since you know more about Tomo, he wanted to know more things about her. Like the things that she likes and dislikes." Tod replied.

"All I can say, is that she isn't a very hard working person, she's an energetic person, she's been friends with her friend Koyomi Mizuhara ever since grade school, and she annoys most people. However the only things that I do know she likes are foods like fried chicken, bananas, meat-balls and egg rolls, plus she likes shopping!"

"Egg rolls? I know how to make those! Sadly, I don't know how to approach her." Kanaye said.

"Then you should go talk to her, if you're curious to know more about her."

"You think so?" Kanaye asked Rono.

"Yeah, if you really like her then you should go for it. You made a good impression to her that day, that'll be no problem. If it goes well, then I'm sure you'll win her heart!"

"Thanks."

The whole time they were both talking, Tomo was in the lunch line watching them. Even though she couldn't hear them exactly, but she definitely knew that something was up with them. But what made her wonder the most was the fact that the guy that helped her dry up the water she spilled in the hallway was there.

 _Hey it's that guy from last time._ She thought.

 **Flashback...**

She knew she messed up by dropping the buckets due to her tired arms. She panics a little by looking at the spilled water. Normally, the teachers don't come out side to clean the mess, they make the student that was disciplined do it instead.

She gets surprised when the door of the classroom slides open. Tomo thought that it would be Yukari coming out to chastise her for her actions. However, this was someone different. There comes out a boy with average height, just as tall as her. Has dark hair and eyes that she could not look away from. The eyes were yellow, she found them interesting in a way.

"Is it fine if I help you with this?" He said.

"Oh, um...sure...go ahead.." She said with a slight blush.

The whole time they were cleaning, not a single word escaped their mouths. Not even a thank you from her. This was the first time she ever got this close to a boy not related to her blood. She stood there cleaning the floor nervously, without her noticing, Kanaye was just as nervous as her.

 **Flashback ends..**.

 _I think I should thank him for that, but I wonder. Why would he help a girl like me?_ She thought as she looks directly at the boy from across the cafeteria.

"Also, Tod, I forgot to tell you something."

"What's on your mind?"

"Back when I was getting treated in the hospital, there was this one nurse that treated me very well."

"What about it?"

"It was your mother." Rono revealed.

"Oh wow really?"

"She asked me to tell you 'hi' for her."

"How nice, did she tell you when she would come back home?"

"No, she didn't say anything."

"Oh, too bad."

"Do you have to take care of your little sister?" Kanaye said.

"I have do, it's my duty. She keeps me company whenever I feel lonely."

"She sounds like quite the sister you have there. What's her name, if I may ask?" Rono asked being the curious one for siblings.

"Ena. Ena Fukushima." Tod responded.

"The gift from God, huh? What a nice name."

"I thought so too. Too bad she barely sees her mother." Tod said glumly.

The school bell rang, it was now time to go back to class.

"We need to get going, class is about to start."

"Right!" Both Kanaye and Tod said.

Right as Rono started walking towards the exit, he remembered something.

"Wait!" He said.

"Huh?" Tod had flustered.

"Before we school ends, want to exchange phone numbers?"

"Sure thing." Tod nods.

"Fine by me, but don't call me at night. I have the habit of sleeping early." Kanaye said feeling embarrassed.

"I'll remember that." Rono replied.

And so they all exchanged numbers with Rono now making themselves part of Rono's contact list on his phone.

"Thanks!" Rono said.

All of them leave to class.

When they made it to the door of the classroom, they opened it and walked to their seats. Rono searches around the room to find his friends. The strange thing about this was the fact that they were all looking at him suspiciously. All except for Osaka, she was doing her own thing by spacing out, that's Osaka for you.

"Hey guys, sorry that I didn't stay here for lunch today."

"Don't worry about." Yomi said.

"But more importantly, what were you talking about with those guys?" Tomo asked.

"You mean them?" He pointed to Tod and Kanaye from across the room.

"We were just...talking about...guy stuff."

"You mean like switching porn mags?" Tomo said.

"No, what's that?" Rono said being completely clueless.

"You really are clueless, aren't you?" Tomo said.

"What is she talking about, Miss Yomi?" Chiyo asked Yomi.

"Gah! Ignore what she said! It's nothing!" Yomi said in a panicked way.

"I'm curious too, what's a porn mag?" Osaka said.

"Can you just please stop mentioning that!" Yomi yelled.

"Anyways, the stuff we were talking about is private. It's better if I kept it in secret, especially to you. You'll just spread rumors everywhere."

"No I won't!" Tomo said.

"You literally told some boy's crush that he had feeling for her as soon as you found out last year!" Yomi said.

"But hey! At least they both went out with each other the next day, right?"

"You got lucky that time. But you could of ruined that guy's life if she didn't accept him."

"Imagine this, what if you were that boy, how would you feel?"

"I don't know, I doubt that anyone would like me." Tomo said.

"Well, the possibilities are endless." Rono said, causing the others to look baffled.

The teacher came in and everyone sat back to their seat immediately, causing the next period to start. The whole time when class started, Sakaki wondered what he meant by his last statement. More importantly, she felt that something big might be going on with him. The thought that they both promised to never keep secret between the two, made her worry if he was about to break the promise they made eight years ago.

When school ended, the Azu-girls and Rono walk home together. Like always, they all start conversations of various topics while Sakaki and Rono listened to them whole time keeping quiet while they both walk side by side.

When they made it to the point where they had to split up to go to their neighborhoods, Sakaki and Rono decided to take Chiyo home. Just make sure she makes it home safe.

"You know, you don't have to walk me home everyday. I must be wasting your time, am I not?" Chiyo said.

"Oh course not Chiyo, right Sakaki?" Rono asked the silent and tall girl.

She nods to him meaning that it was no problem.

"I'm glad." Chiyo was relieved.

After making it to Chiyo's enormous house, they stay with her until someone opens up the gate and door. She presses on the intercom button and waits for her mother to respond. And so, she did, she then waves good bye to her two friends and walk to her front door where her mother was waiting. Sakaki and Rono look at Chiyo from afar until the gate closes. From that point forward, it was time to walk back. First stop was going to be Sakaki's house, which they just passed by when they accompanied Chiyo.

All of a sudden, Sakaki has the urge to ask Rono as to what was going on with him. Why the mysterious attitude that he was showing at school.

"Rono." Sakaki said breaking the silence.

"Mhm?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Of course I am, what makes you say that all of a sudden?"

She hesitated of saying as to why she had asked.

"I thought that you might still be...a little ill."

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine."

Rono wasn't convinced, he knew Sakaki was hiding something. He could just feel it.

"You're hiding something are you?" Rono said.

Sakaki's eyes widened when he knew that was her lie.

"If you have something to ask me about then spit it out! Besides, we made that promise remember?" Rono said causing her to blush.

 _He remembers after all!_ She thought in surprise.

"W-well...I do have...this question I wanted to ask you." She said with her blush fading away.

"Then let it out." He said.

"What were you talking about with those boys downstairs?"

He stopped walking and stood at current his place. He breathes in and out.

"You really want to know?"

Sakaki nodded, she was confident this time, but afraid that he would snap. Which is highly unlikely for that to happen.

"Promise me that you won't tell anyone else?"

She lifted up her hand and pretended to seal a zipper on her mouth, meaning that she won't tell anyone.

"Good." He breathes in and out once again before telling her the truth.

"It turns out..."

Sakaki leans in closer to him paying fully attention.

"That a certain someone...has a crush on one of our friends."

"Which of our friends?" She asked.

"Try guessing." Rono said.

Right now, they both start walking again while Sakaki tries guessing.

"Yomi?"

"No, it's one of our noisy friends."

"No way!" Sakaki said being surprised.

"It's Tomo, at first, I thought he was lying but he was dead serious."

"Aw, that's cute, the fact that someone is crushing on Tomo. But what was the reason why he wanted to talk to you?"

"He wanted me tell him the things Tomo likes and dislikes. Sadly, I just told him her favorite foods and the things she does practically everyday."

"So you were giving him tips too?"

"Yeah, I just told him to just talk to her since he made a good impression on her last time at the hallway."

"Wait, you're telling me that he's the guy that likes her?" Sakaki said.

"Exactly, it then made sense why he volunteered to help her out."

Before they knew it, they were now at Sakaki's house.

"See you tomorrow Sakaki." Rono said.

"Oh and Rono." Sakaki said.

"Yes?"

"By any chance...do you think...I could help you too?"

"Well, I guess so. I'll just have to tell Kanaye about it."

"Great, I'm looking forward to help!" She smiled at him.

"Me too, see you at school." He smiled back.

"Goodbye Rono."

Sakaki gets inside her house leaving Rono on his own to walk to his apartment building. The fact that he had to go home, made him happy because someone was waiting for him.

When he opened the door of his apartment, the first thing that he saw was Neko-san waiting for him in front of the door.

"Neko-san!" He said happily.

He squats down and she jumps into his arms. Rono pets her around the neck causing her to purr.

"You hungry again?"

Oddly, she nods. One of the strangest things about her is that she actually makes different kinds of expressions when Rono asks her something, like food for example. It's like she fully understands the human language.

He takes out the cat food and pours it in one of Neko-san's bowl, he also pours clean water in her other bowl. Immediately after the water, she goes over to her two plates and starts eating. Rono goes to her litter box and finds out that it's been used. It is then decided that he would clean it before it's get full. It wasn't because of the odor, it wouldn't be a problem since the litter box he brought was the special kind which prevents odor.

After cleaning it, he takes a shower after the long and tiring day and then starts his homework. But before he started, he thought of something, about the upcoming events that awaits for him.

"Something tells me, that things will be interesting during high school."


	17. (Ar) -C2-

**The Talk with Takino**

"You what!" Said Kanaye.

School was about to start in a few minutes, the boys had a little talk regarding Kanaye's secret.

"Why would you tell Sakaki my secret!"

"She was eager to find out ever since I went downstairs for lunch yesterday. Things would be suspicious if I hadn't told her." Rono said.

"Good point there." Tod said.

"Well, I guess you're right." Kanaye agreed.

"And besides, I made a promise that we would never keep secrets from each other." Rono added.

"Since when?" Kanaye asked.

"Ever since we were kids."

Kanaye surprised at his response, becomes curious about his history with her. Although, he was more worried about himself.

"Tell me one thing, does she really keep a secret?"

"Of course, she promised yesterday that she wouldn't tell anyone."

"Great."

Kanaye looks at Sakaki from afar and catches her facing the window beside her looking at the view of Tokyo, at least a few kilometers away.

"It's strange."

"What's strange?" Tod asked.

"Trusting a person like her, I'm guessing she's popular with the guys, right?" Kanaye commented.

"Well, in a way. I don't think she talks to many guys though. The only guy she talks to is you Rono." Tod faced Rono.

"That is true, considering she's just as shy as me."

"I guess." They both said.

"Well, time for me to go back. See you guys later."

"Later." Said both Kanaye and Tod.

Rono goes over to his desk placed by his long time friend, Sakaki, who is seemingly bored. She doesn't notice him, not even the noise he made. He thinks of something to distract her from her own world. Then, it hit him!

This was an old trick he used on her when they were little kids. Back in their playful days, he would meet her at the park to play. Sometimes he would see her sitting in one of the swings, waiting for his appearance. When he snuck up behind her successfully without noise causing her to look the other way, he leans close to Sakaki's neck and blows a small breeze on it. This causes her to freak out and blush, although he doesn't notice her blush anyways.

Coming back to the present, he does the same thing like back then. He blows on her neck, causing her eyes to widen, making her gasp and look around what caused the sudden breeze.

"Eek!" Sakaki got alarmed.

She looks around and notices that it was Rono's doing.

"Why did you that?" Sakaki asked.

"I just felt like it, been a long while since I did that!"

She pouts in disappointment for a bit and then transitions to smile. They both laugh it out just by thinking about those memories. Soon after the laughs died down, Sakaki then breaks the topic.

"So, did you tell him?" Sakaki asked worriedly.

"I have."

"What did he say?" Asked the tall and curious girl.

"He said that he's fine with it, as long as you don't tell anyone else."

"Great." Sighing in relief.

Sitting for a while on their desks until the teacher showed up, Sakaki thought about the idea of dating. She always wondered what it would feel like to be in a relationship with someone that you really liked. Even though she doesn't feel that way with anyone, or does she?

"Rono." Sakaki broke the silence.

"Uh huh?"

"What...do you think...about the idea of...d-dating?" Sakaki asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, accompanying someone that you truly love the most."

"Are you talking about family love or married couple love?"

Sakaki wasn't surprised on how clueless he was ever since back then.

"Married couple love." She said struggling to say those words.

"Oh that! I'm not sure, I never thought of the idea of being in a relationship with the person you love." Rono responded.

"I highly doubt that anyone would have those kinds of feelings for someone like me. I bet nobody likes me at this point." He added.

 _You're wrong._ Sakaki thought.

"After all, I don't want to break people's hearts." Rono added.

"How so?"

"If a girl _does_ ask me out and I accept, what if someone was already in love with that girl? I'm also afraid of falling in love too, the thought of getting rejected of my confession could might as well be one of my fears."

"I see, I never would have thought that you were afraid of something like that." Sakaki felt sorry.

"What about you Sakaki? Do you have anyone you're interested in?"

Sakaki immediately blushed as she was asked the unexpected question.

"N-not really, I don't think that any of the boys would have a liking for me." She said.

"What are you kidding me? I bet there are many boys falling for you right now!" Rono said while patting her back.

"I doubt it." Sakaki said with a blush.

The school bell rings, first period starts. As usual, Yukari fails to show up to her class. Everything was normal alright. She had then showed up about five minutes later, things changed when she wrote those words on the chalk board which read:

 **Class Representative**

"Recently, a certain teacher has told me that each class is required to have a class representative. Since this is late request, I'll be choosing the class representative." She said with in an irritated tone.

Yukari looks around, she wants to choose the person who is capable for the job. But since she was to lazy to think about anything else, due to the fact that she stood up late the night before, she chose someone who looked smart for her.

"You, Mr. Ohyama!"

She points to a boy named Masaaki Ohyama, he wore glasses, stood 5'8 and has dark hair.

"Yes ma'am?" He said.

"From now on, you'll be the class representative!" Yukari exclaimed.

"What! B-but why me?" Masaaki asked.

"I don't know, you have glasses, so you must be smart." Yukari said.

"Just because I have glasses, doesn't mean that I'm _that_ smart."

"Well, too late. There's a student council meeting after school, make sure to attend it."

"Yes ma'am." Masaaki sighed as he sat down.

Back to Sakaki and Rono, they both whisper about the situation.

"I feel bad for the guy, don't you?" Rono whispered to Sakaki.

"Indeed." She replied.

It was official, the class representative is now Masaaki Ohyama. Somehow, Rono felt that he might someday interact with the boy. But it won't be just any normal interaction, but a different one.

After first period had ended, everyone had a five minute break before the second. Kanaye decides to go do his business in the boy's restroom. He stands up slowly from his desk and walks outside of the classroom all the way to the restroom. Never has he thought that something interesting would happen in this time of day.

Tomo went outside of the classroom as well to do her business as well. She got out seconds before Kanaye did. Two minutes have passed for the both of them. Kanaye was first to come out. He opens the door out and goes to the direction of the classroom. That is until the girl's bathroom door swung out open causing him to collide into it. He falls back causing him to fall on his rear. He massages the bump on his head with eyes closed. Tears almost formed in his eyes, he was on the verge of crying.

"Hey! Watch how you're swinging the door open!" Kanaye yelled.

Never has he expected that the person who slammed him would be the girl of his dreams. Tomo looks behind the door and spots Kanaye looking down.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Tomo says walking and then squatting towards him.

Kanaye's eyes widen, he recognized that voice anywhere. It was the one and only Tomo Takino. He looks up, he notices Tomo looking. The two teenagers were looking deep into each other's eyes. Tomo is hypnotized by his yellow eyes and Kanaye loved the way her brown eyes shined. They both wanted the staring to last longer but then he blinked causing the two to snap out of it.

"Wait a minute, I know you! You're that guy who gave me the rag last time!" Tomo said astonished.

She looks at the purple bruise on his head and immediately reacts.

"I'm so sorry for slamming you with the door!" She said.

"I-I-It's f-fine." He stuttered.

"That's one nasty bruise you got there! Let me take you to the nurse's office." Tomo offered.

Kanaye nods, he couldn't refuse the offer. After all, he was feeling a bit hazy after the collision with the door.

Tomo felt extremely sorry for her accidental action. She noticed that he started walking funny, it looked like he was about to pass out. Tomo takes action and held Kanaye's hand leading him to the nurse's office.

When arriving, she steadily opens the door slowly this time, hoping not to hit anyone. The nurse is then informed about the situation, she gives Kanaye an ice pack to be placed on his bump. It was recommended that Kanaye would stay and lie down on the nursery bed for recovery, due to the dizziness. When he laid down, he went in a deep sleep in a flash. As it happened, Tomo stands beside Kanaye and places the ice pack on the bump on his head that fell off when he began sleeping.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to him with a sad face.

The nurse takes notice of her mood.

"Is it okay if I visit him during lunch?" Tomo asked the nurse.

"It's fine with me, just don't wake him up though. Let him have his rest."

At this time, the school bell for second period rang. Tomo was going to be tardy.

"I'll give you a pass to let the teachers know you were here."

"Thanks." Tomo said with a glum expression.

The nurse hands her the pass, Tomo leaves the office and makes her way to her classroom.

Minutes after the bell had rung, the teacher was already calling out for attendance. Tomo came inside the class in the middle of it. Everyone looked her way, all eyes were on her including Kimura.

"Care to explain why you were tardy?" He asked.

"I have a reason!" She said raising the pass in her hand.

Yomi was actually surprised on how she actually had a good reason why she was late. Normally, she would make up excuses, ever since middle school.

"She has a pass?" Yomi said quietly.

Kimura examines the pass, reading the description of the pass, he understands the situation.

"So you took an injured boy to the nurse's office. Seems understandable, go sit on your seat. You're excused."

Every student in the class stared at Tomo walking to her seat, including her friends.

Rono and Sakaki looked at each other with worried expressions.

Yomi was concerned for her friend, even if she was annoying and noisy at times, she still cared about her. People started gossiping in an instant.

"Now, now class. No need to spread false rumors, it's time for me to lecture you all. Now stay steady and focus."

 _He's right, I have to stay steady and focus. Get it together Ayumu!_ Osaka thought to herself.

"Get it together, get it together, get it together." Osaka chanted quietly, no one heard except Chiyo.

"Miss Osaka?" Chiyo whispered.

From there on, Kimura lectured the whole class for world history. For today, he had an activity for everyone. For this activity, you need to have a partner. The assignment was to make a claim and support it with evidence from the given article. There can only be one claim for each pair. As always, Sakaki got paired with Rono, Yomi with Tomo and Chiyo with Osaka. Since Kanaye was missing, Tod was left alone. But because of the situation, Kimura allowed to Tod to be in a group of three. At first, he wanted to be with Rono, but he noticed Rono and Sakaki talking and smiling to each other.

"I think it's best if leave them alone." He looks around some more and notices Kaorin working with Chihiro. He decides to work with them instead.

"Do you ladies mind if I could join your group?" Tod asked playfully.

"Of course not, have a seat." Kaorin was first to respond.

Things went normal at first but for Tomo, she seemed out of it. That was what Yomi noticed of her.

"What do you think happened with Tomo?" Rono asked Sakaki.

Sakaki simply raises her shoulders, she had no idea. He shrugs it off and continues working.

Just as things went smoothly for the rest without Tomo vexing the others, Yomi had to question her about the happening.

"Tomo." Yomi broke the silence.

"Yes?" Tomo replied in a soft and quiet tone.

"What happened back there, you're acting different."

"Oh really, I think not!" Tomo said proudly snapping back into that noisy and energetic girl everybody knows.

"Oh great, the Tomo we all know and love is back again." She said sarcastically.

"That's right!"

"But seriously, what happened back there?"

"He he, let's just say that...there was an accident."

Going back with the three person group that included Chihiro, Kaorin and Tod, conversations were made.

"Tod, do you know what happened with Kanaye?" Chihiro asked.

"Not a clue, what I know is that he's in the nurse's office right now."

"Too bad, I hope he's feeling okay." Chihiro was concerned."

"Chihiro, you worry too much for everyone, even for the littlest of things." Kaorin said.

"I can't help it, after all, I care for everyone." Chihiro said.

 _Hm, the more and more I learn about Kaorin's social life, the more I get curious of her._ Tod thought.

"What!" Yomi said.

"You heard me." Tomo said with embarrassment.

Yomi started to laugh a bit because of her accidental actions.

"I can't believe that you got someone hurt just by opening the bathroom door!"

"It was an accident! It's not my fault that the door doors open out." Tomo crossed her arms.

"Well, that's a good reason. There was no reason to swing the door open. Have you at least apologized to him?" Yomi asked.

"I did."

"You said that he was the same guy who helped you out in the hall way right?"

"Yes?" Tomo said.

"That's bad, you're going to have to repay him somehow."

"How?"

"It's your choice, not mine. Just don't think of any crazy ideas."

"You mean like lifting up my skirt for him?" Tomo asked.

"Yes, especially that!"

 **Going back to Kaorin...**

"So, tell me more about Kanaye. How is he like?" She asked.

"Hm. First thing first, he's a bit awkward sometimes, he's shy when it comes to girls, he's smart but he's not the athletic type. He tries his best though." Tod said.

"Really? Does he have any talents?' Chihiro asked as she filled in some answers on her paper.

"Well, I don't think you would call this a talent but he's good at giving people haircuts!" He said.

"Wow, how do you know?" Kaorin asked.

"Because at one point when we were hanging out at his house, he gave me a haircut. I remember I made a bet if he gave me a good haircut, I would pay him five hundred yen. Unfortunately, I ended up paying him in the end."

"No way, he's actually good? Has he tried it on a girl yet?"

"Actually, he has! From what I heard from his dad, Kanaye gave his mom a great haircut! She wanted the length of her hair to reach to her neck and Kanaye did just that with no errors!"

"He's that good huh? Maybe I should go ask him for a haircut." Chihiro said.

"Since he's awkward around girls other than his relatives, I'll make sure to accompany him too." Tod chuckled causing the two girls beside him to giggle as well.

Tod looks at the laughing Kaorin.

 _Wow, I never noticed this side of her. Was she always that cute?_ Tod thought.

 **Back to Rono and Sakaki...**

"How's Neko-san?" Sakaki asked Rono.

"Oh Neko-san? She's been doing fine, come to think of it, she's been acting more lively than I remembered."

"How so?" Sakaki asked.

"Yesterday for example, when I came back from school, she jumped up to me. Luckily, I wasn't too tired out. Otherwise I would be tackled by my own cat!"

Sakaki giggles and blushes just by imagining Rono getting tackled by Neko-san.

"I can see it now." She giggles.

"Very funny." Rono said sarcastically.

Before finishing on writing his last sentence for the claim and evidence, he thought of an idea.

"Hey Sakaki. How about coming over to my place to do homework?" Rono said.

She finishes on writing out her last sentence as well and tells him her response.

"Sure, just let me call my mom before we leave. On the other hand, what gave you the idea of the sudden invitation?" Sakaki became curious.

"It's been a while since you've encountered Neko-san, right? How about if you two have a little reunion, I bet she'll be happy about it. After all, we both were the ones who kept her company at the park." Rono said.

"I guess you're right, sounds like a great idea. I'm looking forward to it!" She smiled.

After the world history had ended, the class then transitioned to classic literature. Nothing interesting happened the whole time, all they did was read one of the classic books. People were called upon to take turns to read. As soon as they finished the two chapters, the lunch bell finally rang.

Just like everyday, Rono would sit besides Sakaki to eat their own lunches out of their bentos, same as Osaka and Chiyo, and Yomi and Chihiro would ask Tomo to get them some bread and milk from the cafeteria. Tomo does just that, she runs to the cafeteria with all of her might to grab the bread. However, a thought came into mind. She remembers that she had to go visit Kanaye back at the nurse's office. She does him a favor by grabbing him some Yakisoba bread. When acquired, she runs to her classroom again and gives the requested bread to Yomi and Chihiro.

"Wow, you got them already?" Chihiro stunned.

"Yep! So did you time me?" Tomo asked Yomi.

"We were supposed to time you?" Yomi said being confused.

"Aw come on!"

She gives Chihiro her desired bread, same as Yomi.

"Thank you Tomo!" Chihiro thanked her.

"Thanks Tomo." Yomi thanked her.

"You're welcome." Tomo said as she turns around with two pieces of bread, one of her own and the other for Kanaye.

Yomi was first to notice, questions developed when Tomo left the room.

 _Now where is she going?_ Yomi thought. She then shrugs it off and starts eating her lunch.

Tomo on the other hand, walks to the nurse's office. She slides open the door slowly hoping not to wake anyone. She expected to see the nurse there, to her dismay, she wasn't there. The only patient there was Kanaye himself. She walks towards his sleeping body and sits down on an empty seat beside him. The only difference of him were the bandages wounded around his forehead.

She places her land in his cheek, checking to see if he was hot. He was found out to be warm. All of a sudden, he wakes up seconds after contact. He slowly opens up his eyes, his eyes started adjusting a little until his sight became crystal clear. Kanaye feels movement around him, so he turns around. The first person he saw after his sleep was Tomo Takino, looking over at him.

"Tomo!" He covers his lower part of his face only exposing his eyes and hair.

"What are you doing here?" Kanaye said with a blush that she would not notice.

"I just came here to see how you've been. That was a pretty crucial crash with the door back there, sorry about that." She said.

"Oh, um, n-no, it's f-fine!" He stuttered.

"Oh I almost forgot!" Tomo grabs the Yakisoba bread and hands it to him.

"Here, I got you this when lunch started. You're probably starving by now." Tomo says as she blushes.

Kanaye's stomach starts growling with hunger.

"Looks like I am." He said nervously.

Tomo starts chuckling.

 _I made her laugh! She sure sounds cute when she laughs. If only I had the guts to tell her that._ Kanaye thought.

Kanaye unfolds the plastic from his bread, he gives a bite to the delicious bread. Tomo does the same with her's.

"Now that I think about it, I never found out your name. Mind telling me?" Tomo asked politely.

"Not at all! M-my name is Kanaye Nakahara." He said.

"Kanaye, huh? You probably already now my name, but I'll say it anyways. My name is Tomo Takino, nice to meet you." She said.

"N-nice to meet you." He said.

After three more bites of the bread, Tomo brings up something from before.

"About before, I never really thanked you that time."

"For what?" He questioned her.

"You know, when you offered me help back in the hallway."

"Oh, right."

"Thanks a lot for that. It's the first time a boy has ever offered me help, I really appreciate it." She said with a slight blush.

"No problem, it's the least I can do."

For the whole lunch period, they both chatted away. Kanaye of course enjoyed his time with Tomo. Sadly, it all had to end when the school bell rang. Tomo stands up and says her goodbyes to him.

"Bye Kanaye, hope you'll feel better soon!" She waves at him as she slowly walks to the door. She is soon stopped by Kanaye.

"Wait!"

"What's up?" She said casually.

"D-do...you think we can talk more like this another time?"

"Really? Am I not annoying?" She asked.

"Of course not, I enjoy spending my time with you!" His words came right out of his mouth. It caused Tomo to blush a bit.

"You really like talking to me do you?" She said, looking down.

Kanaye looks down, hoping to not of creeped her out. Out of surprise, she gives him something that he would never of thought he would get in his life!

"If you want, I can give you my number?" She said nervously.

"Really?" He said.

"Yeah, it's okay if you don't want it." She said.

"No it's fine, I'll take it!" He hands her his phone. She goes to the contacts list to add herself in his contacts. After that's done, she hands it back to him.

"You can message me anytime, call me after school just to make sure it's the right number, okay?"

"Okay, thank you!" Kanaye said.

"See you tomorrow!" She said as she left the room.

 _Wow, I actually got a girl's phone number!_ Kanaye thought with an excited face.

After school finished, Kanaye was able to walk properly again with no hassle. He thanks the nurse for taking care of him and leaves the room and the school as well. On the way outside, he walks out of the school gates and makes his way home. It wasn't too long of a walk, since he lived in the nearby neighborhood by the school.

When arriving inside his home, he is met with her little two twin sisters that had the ages of seven.

"I'm home!" Kanaye yelled.

"Welcome home Hun!" His mom said from the kitchen.

"Big brother!" They both said happily while running towards him to give him a hug on his waist.

"We missed you!"

"Same here, nice to see you, Mai and Maiko." He pats on the top of their heads.

Both Mai and Maiko have brown hair, also the same color tone as Kanaye. They both stood at the height of 3'12 and still have their grade school uniforms on. They may be identical by appearance, but their personalities are not.

Mai Nakahara, the typical seven year old girl with long hair and short bangs on her forehead, she always has loads of energy within her. She loves it when she and her family spend their time outside, even when it's just for a minute. She has the taste for the need of adventure, one day wanting to get to know the world better.

Maiko Nakahara, way different than her twin sister Mai. She has short hair reaching her neck and bangs on her forehead as well. She likes spending her time indoors. She isn't usually the type of girl who would like to spend time outside. Especially on a hot and sunny day, as long if there's a place to feel refreshed and cool down, then she's set. Since Maiko is always inside, she helps her mother the most in the kitchen, even her mother compares Mai to Maiko, although still loving them both the same way.

But the thing they have most in common is that they both like spending time with each other and they both care for their dear brother. They always looked up to him ever since they were born.

"Mommy and us cooked up dinner, all we have to do is wait for daddy!" Mai said.

"We both helped mommy this time." Maiko said.

"Really? I'm looking forward of what you two made for me. Hopefully it'll be good."

"It will, just wait until daddy comes back."

"Alright, call me when he comes back." He says as he walks up the stairs.

"Okay!" They both said cheerfully, running back to the kitchen where their mom is located.

Kanaye sighs because of the long day at school, even though he slept for most of the day.

"Wonder how my year of high school will turn out." He said.

He opens up his phone, goes through his contacts and looks at Tomo's number. He immediately thought of an image of her.

"Should I call her, is now a good time. Nah, maybe I should wait a bit."


	18. (Ar) -C3-

Soon after Kanaye went into his room, he started working on his homework while he waited for his father to arrive from work. Usually he would come back five minutes after Kanaye came back from school. This time, it's taking longer than usual. The good thing is that the food prepared by Kanaye's family is still in the pot warming up, not served on the plate yet.

"When is my dad coming back? I'm hungry."

He turns to his phone, laying on his nightstand.

"Is now a good time to call her?" He said.

"I don't think my dad will be coming back in the next five minutes or so. Nah, I'll do it."

He walks to his nightstand to pick up the phone and dials Tomo's phone number. But before he calls her, doubts were thought.

 _What should I say to her?_ He thought.

 _Maybe I shouldn't talk to her._ He thought.

Without attempting to, he accidentally presses the call button.

"Uh oh." He said.

"Too late."

He places the phone by his ear and waits for her answer. Tomo's phone is ringing, she's in her room laying on her bed reading manga. The moment she hears the ringing, she wonders who it could be.

"Could it be Yomi?" She stands up, picks up her phone and opens it up.

"Unrecognized number? Wrong number maybe?" An image flashes in her head, it was of Kanaye.

"Wait a minute, it could be him!" She presses on the answer button and starts talking through the phone.

"Hello?" Tomo's voice could be heard from Kanaye's phone.

"Hello, Tomo?" He said.

"Is that you Kanaye?"

"Yes it is, hope I'm not interrupting!"

"Oh no it's fine, I wasn't doing anything at the time." Tomo said.

"Good." An awkward silence occurred between the two.

"So...how are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm doing fine, what about you?" She said in return.

"Same here. What are you doing right now?" He asked.

"Nothing, just on my bed relaxing reading manga."

"Oh you read those? What are you reading?"

"Lupin the third." Tomo said.

"Oh, isn't that a comedy-drama manga?"

"Yeah, it's adventure too. But if you read it further, the story gets a darker tone. That's why I like it, do you read it?"

"Yeah, who's you're favorite character?" Kanaye asked.

"Fujiko Mine is my favorite! She's a very cool and strong character, very good at martial arts too! Do you read it too?"

"Yeah, but it's been a while since I've read the recent chapters. I would like to read it sometime soon."

"Bummer, who's your favorite character?" Tomo asked.

"Mine is Lupin, can be goofy and silly at times, he's cool to me."

"I can see why." She laughs along with Kanaye.

"Hey." Tomo said.

"Yeah?" Kanaye said with wonder.

"What was the last volume that you read?"

"Just volume three, which one are you on?"

"Volume five, you're far behind my darling." She said playfully trying to tease him, causing him to blush.

"Uh, d-darling?" He stuttered.

"Just kidding Kanaye!"

"Oh, right."

Kanaye's little sister, Mai, can be heard from downstairs.

"Big brother! Daddy's home, it's time to eat!" She said loudly.

"Alright, I'm coming down!" He says, covering the microphone of his phone.

"I have to leave, it's dinner time."

"Okay, talk to you later." Tomo says.

"Bye." Kanaye said, he hangs up, places his phone on his night stand and leaves his room to eat dinner with his family.

The first conversation starts, being about the bandages on his head.

"Kanaye dear, what's the deal with those bandages on your head?" His mother's asks.

Yuka Hironaka, Kanaye's mothers. Stands 5 feet and 6 inches, 28 years old, just a year younger than her husband.

"You got in a fight Kanaye?" Kanaye's father asked.

Haruo Nakahara, stands 5 feet and seven inches tall, 29 years old, the person who made the name Nakahara the last name for Kanaye.

"Nothing like that dad, let's just say that I got in an accident with someone." He said which caused Yuka to gasp.

"An accident?!" She exclaimed.

"Was it a guy or a girl that was involved in the accident? Tell me the details."

"Haruo!" Yuka said.

"It was a girl." Kanaye told Haruo.

"Anyways! How did it happen?" Kanaye's mother asked.

"It started when I went to the boy's bathroom. After I did everything I had to do, I went out the door to go to class but then something stoped me. The girl's bathroom door swung wide open, that's when I got hit on the head with the door and fell to floor. The girl who swung the door took notice of me, apologized and took me to the nurse's office. I felt dizzy the whole time I walked there, so it was recommended that I would sleep in the office with the nurse. And so, I ended up having the wound of bandages around my head."

"At least you're okay, right?" Mai questioned Kanaye.

"Yes I am sis, I'm even better now that I can see you two again!" Kanaye rubs the top of Mai and Maiko's head making them brighten up, this causes Yuka and Haruo to chuckle.

"Now that the situation has been explained, we might as well start eating. I'm hungry!" Haruo said.

"Okay!" Said both Mai and Maiko.

"But before we eat, was the nurse hot?" Haruo asked.

"Haruo!" Yuka yelled.

"Kidding, let's eat!"

Every member of the Nakahara residence sat on a chair by the table.

"Thank you for the food!" Everyone said.

Haruo immediately takes a scoop of the curry and eats it, along with white rice on the side.

 **Meanwhile at Rono's house...**

The door slowly opens from the outside. From inside, Neko-san runs to the door and waits for Rono to get inside the room. When he squats down, just about to greet Neko-san, she jumps into his arms and purrs.

"Missed me Neko?" He said, she meows as a response.

"Guess who's here to see you?" Rono says, now turning around to the doorway.

Sakaki walks inside the room to catch sight of Neko-san in Rono's arms.

"Neko-san." She said with her hands covering her mouth.

The cat immediately makes eye contact with her.

"Recognize her? It's Sakaki." Rono informed.

Just as she heard the name Sakaki, she remembered at that moment what she had to do. She would jump out of his arms to land on the floor, run towards Sakaki and jump into her arms. Neko-san purrs loudly than before, both Sakaki and Rono knew that now, must be the happiest moment for Neko-san, especially since so long.

"Looks like she remembers you after all. Told you there was nothing to worry about!" Rono said.

"You're right." Tears of joy start to form in her eyes.

"Sakaki...are you crying?"

"N-no, I-I'm just happy t-that I get to see Neko-san again." She answered with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad, I think we should eat now. What do you prefer?" Rono asked.

"Anything is fine." Sakaki responded while she played with Neko-san.

"All right! I'll start cooking, you can watch the television if you want. If you need anything, just ask!" Rono said.

"I'll let you know!" Sakaki said as Rono made his way to the kitchen.

During the ten minutes that Rono was cooking and preparing for dinner, Kanaye and his family finished eating. Mai and Maiko sat on the couch to watch their favorite anime. Yuka and Haruo would sit on the table talking about their day with each other. As for Kanaye, he decides to call Rono, to tell him about the news.

 ***phone rings***

"Hm?" Rono said as he places the last fried fish on the napkin covered plate to let the napkin absorb the grease. He rubs his hands on the apron he was wearing and picks up the phone to see who it was.

"Hey, it's Kanaye. Wonder what's up with him." He flips the phone open.

"Hello?" He said.

"This is Rono, right?" Kanaye asked.

"Yes it is, what's going on?"

"You won't believe what happened today!"

"Did something happen between you and Tomo?"

"Yeah, she gave me her phone number!" Kanaye said in a proud mood.

"Look at you, already have her number! You're making progress! I bet that you'll probably become her boyfriend in no time!"

"You think so? I'm pretty sure that it'll take a while though."

"Well of course, I think that it takes time for it to happen. At least that's what I heard."

"Agree with you on that. Haven't you fell in love before, Rono?" Kanaye asked.

"I don't think so, I don't think I've felt it before. To be honest, I'm kind of scared of it." Rono said.

"Why is that?"

"I feel that if it came to that, there would be drama involved. It could even involve people that weren't responsible in the first place too!" Rono informed Kanaye.

"Jeez, really, hope that doesn't happen to me ever."

"Same here, I doubt that I'll ever get in a relationship anytime soon."

"Don't worry, you're probably attracting the girls right now!" Kanaye said while chuckling.

"You mean like luring strangers in my home? Only Sakaki is here." Rono said bluntly.

"W-what! Sakaki's with you?" Kanaye said acting all surprised.

"Yeah, she's in my room right now."

"What is she doing?"

"I don't know, probably playing with my cat."

Back in Rono's room, the only person and animal in the room is Sakaki and Neko-san. While playing with Rono's newly adopted cat, Sakaki finds something popping out under Rono's mattress. It appeared to be some kind of magazine. The thing is, there wasn't just one, but two magazines popping out. Sakaki looks out of Rono's bedroom door to check if the coast was clear. Indeed, no one appeared to be inside the hallway, all that remained was the sound of water running from the sink. She is convinced that it would be fine to have a little peek of what's inside the two magazines.

However, there was a sudden thought that came into her mind. It was likely that male teens who lived by themselves have at least one of those dirty, adult magazines hidden somewhere in their room. Since Rono is a guy, Sakaki thought that this could be indeed true. She gulps at the thought that her childhood friend could maybe have one of those magazines to read at their private times.

"Only one way to find out!" She said as she moves her hand closely to the hidden magazines while Neko-san looks at her in a confused manner.

She couldn't help but tremble in fear of what could the magazines be. The magazines are now secured, she flips them over and finds out that they were not the kind of magazines she imagined them to be. One of them was just a cafe magazine and the other a cat magazine. Sakaki sighs in relief, Rono's mind is still clean.

Out of nowhere, Rono pops up behind Sakaki and Neko-san!

"I see you're looking into my stuff, aren't you Sakaki?" He said with a slightly evil smile, he surprises her.

"U-um, I-I'm just."

"I'm sorry, but I going to have to punish you for that."

"P-please don't." She said in a scared tone.

Rono lifts up both of his hands and draws them forward to Sakaki's torso.

 _Don't tell me he's going to touch me there!_ She thought.

If he was going to perform any kind of harm to her, it would be time for her to go on a defensive mode. His hands drew closer by the second, she was about ready to kick him. But before that happened, Rono did something else that even Sakaki did not expect. Instead, he tickles her waist with one hand, and tickles her neck with the other. Sakaki went full on laughing that tears started forming in her eyes due to all the laughter.

"Hahaha! Stop it please! I've learned my lesson! So stop tickling me!" Sakaki said while laughing her loudest.

"Alright alright, I'll stop." He finally stopped, allowing Sakaki to breathe.

"The food is ready Sakaki. Might as well eat now before doing the homework." He smiled.

"Okay, let's go eat." She smiled back.

"Then shall we?" Rono asked one final time.

"Let's shall." She giggled.

Rono stood up and gives Sakaki a hand. She looks up to him in a dreamy state.

"Let me help you up Sakaki." She said which caused her to blush a tad bit.

"Let's get right on it." She said.

The whole way when Rono lead Sakaki to the kitchen, they held hands. He was the one who insisted on doing it. His idea of holding hands with her wasn't because of affection, he felt that it was normal at this age. Back in the day, they would normally hold hands around when either one of them wanted to show each other something.

On arrival at the kitchen, four big bowls were placed on middle of the table. The first plate had spicy curry, the second had white rice, the third had fried rice, the last had five pieces of beef. Sakaki looks into all four bowls and finds them delicious.

"Wow, the food you made looks delicious. Not to mention that you cooked a lot more than expected." She commented.

"Thank you, and usually since I'm the only one living here, a lot less would be made. But now that you're here, I have company. I wouldn't feel as lonely in my apartment just like always."

"You're that lonely?" Sakaki asked.

"Yeah, not to mention bored too. Well, I'm hungry, it's time to eat now. After I serve Neko-san her food."

He grabs Neko-san's bowl located on the counter, opens up the cabinet to grab the cat food and then serves it in.

"Neko-san!" He said out loud.

She pops out from the hallways and looks at him.

"Time to eat." He shook her bowl a little.

He places the bowl on the floor by the dinner table, making Neko-san walk towards the bowl to start getting ready to eat.

"Let's eat! Thank you for the food!" Rono said.

"Thank you for the food!" Sakaki said.

As they thanked for the food, both of them started to serve themselves, while Neko-san started eating her food as well. Once again, his cat ate with the same people that took care of her seven years ago. In other words, the three ate dinner as a family.

 **The Next Day...**

It was a fairly warm morning in Tokyo of Japan. As usual, things went normally at school like everyday. Miss Yukari lets her students work on the packet that was assigned on Monday. The day when Rono was absent due to some errands he had to do first.

"So, tell me the details Rono." Tod said.

"About what?" Rono wondered what he meant.

"About the visit from Sakaki!" Tod said out loud, causing people around to took towards them.

"Hey keep it down!" Rono whispered.

"Sorry." Tod apologized.

"Wait, how did you know that Sakaki visited me last night?" Rono questioned Tod.

"Kanaye told me." He blurted out.

"Of course, why can't he just keep these things quietly." Rono said.

"Well, the details?"

"Like what do you want to know?"

"What gave her the idea to visit you?"

"I invited her over." Rono said.

"Why?"

"So we could complete the homework we were assigned for that night. And also let her see my cat too." Rono revealed.

"That's it, nothing exciting happened? No changes, no contact, no special kind of action?"

"None other than we watched television after we finished."

"Oh so it's nothing but a study date?"

"I guess, in a way."

"Well, what can I expect from you. Although, it's kind of cool that you invited her over at your house."

"You think so? It's just inviting your friend over. Nothing too special."

"Other than its a girl." Tod commented.

"Maybe. Oh! Have you heard that Kanaye got Tomo's phone number?" Rono said.

"Yeah, he told me on my way to school. Looks like that trip to the nurse's office did something good to him after all." Tod commented.

"Lucky for him. To be honest, I don't know what he sees in Tomo. She looks like any other normal girl in this school."

"When it comes to these things Rono, there are certain things that an individual wants in a girl. Guys and girls in high schools fall in love just by their looks, not by the way they act naturally."

"So some don't care of what's in the inside?" Rono asked.

"Exactly, but in Kanaye's case it's completely different." Tod added.

"How so?"

"Ever since grade school, I had Kanaye as my classmate."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Rono commented.

"I sat behind him, we didn't really talk much because we were somewhat strangers. Same as me, he doesn't stand out in crowds. I remember at some point, a group of boys started talking about which of the two girls were more attractive."

 **Flashback to grade school...**

"Hey guys, which one do you think is the hottest between those two girls. Hanako or Keiko? I think Keiko is the hottest." One boy pointed at the two.

"Nah man, I think Hanako is better!"

"Props to Keiko."

"Agreed, Keiko for me"

"What are you all talking about, Hanako for the win!"

"Hanako can get my vote any time."

All six boys counted the votes and figured out that it was all even.

"Ah come on! Tie breaker!"

"Ask another guy to vote!" He turns around and points to Kanaye.

"Like that guy!"

"Alright let's ask him."

All of the six boys walk and turn to him and then tap on his shoulder. This caused him to lift his head up from his desk.

"Hey, Kanaye!"

"Hm?" Kanaye said.

"Which one do you think is the hottest? Hanako, or Keiko?"

Kanaye looks at both of the girls that were chatting with one another. He stares at them for a few seconds, but doesn't have a choice.

"I don't know." Kanaye replied which caused all six boys to get confused.

"What! What do you mean you don't know!"

"I don't get how all of you find those girls 'hot'" Kanaye said.

"Come on! Look again!" The boy demanded.

Kanaye looks at Hanako and Keiko for the second time. He tries his hardest this time hoping to find an answer. To his dismay, nothing.

"I still don't know." Kanaye said.

"Your pissing me off here!" One of the guys said.

"Fudo, Fudo, chill." One of the guys said.

Fudo, the blonde-haired leader of a group of boys. He could be rough on some of the weak boys at the school. If you annoy him enough, he won't hesitate to punch. He has never lost a fight against anyone. On his spare time, he would go to the park and pick on some of the kids, regardless of their height.

"Fine then, we'll ask someone else." Fudo said.

All of them start walking away to find an answer from a different guy.

"This will be last time I'll ever be nice to him!" Fudo can be heard from afar.

"Kanaye." Tod said quietly.

 **Flashback ends...**

"That's why I think that this is something new, especially when it involves him." Tod said.

"Did he get bullied by that kid?" Rono asked.

"Sometimes, it would involve with Kanaye covered in bruises and cuts. Luckily for Kanaye, Fudo would always end up being suspended."

"Great to know he got a bit of discipline at least. What happened after grade school, did he go to the same middle school as you and Kanaye?" Rono commented.

"He moved, he never said a word to any of the students in grade school. Not even the boys that were in his group. After that, the group had split up and never interacted to one another again." Tod said.

"That's great to hear, I despise bullies."

"I feel you there. If I wasn't so scared back then, I would have defended Kanaye. Even if I knew I was going to lose." Tod said.

"Where do you think he is now?" Rono asked.

"Hopefully somewhere far away, I don't want him to hurt anyone else. Hopefully he would somehow change for the greater good."

"Don't be so sure about that, because sometimes, our past can return to the present."

"What makes you say that, Rono?" Tod asked.

"It's how I returned to Sakaki, even without knowing that she ever existed. Luckily there are no delinquents at this school. But if the day comes when one of them come to harm us, we'll get through it together, no matter what. Deal?" Rono asked while he lifted up his fist to offer him a fist pump to Tod.

"Deal!" Tod fist pumped Rono's fist back, making them accept the deal.


	19. (Ar2) -C4-

**[Ar.2] {C.4}**

It was bright morning of Saturday for Rono. Up and awake for a new day. Something bothered him since the night before. Kanaye barely made any progress on getting closer to Tomo, he would always shy away. Even if he planned on asking something simple. Which tired Rono and bothered him that he could barely help Kanaye on his troubles. He cares for his friends very dearly, that he's willing to help them on everything including relationship problems.

Rono was on his bed, still in his pajamas with his phone by his ear. He had the need to talk with his parents, just to hear their voice again. It's been almost an entire month since he first moved to Japan. Things went smoothly after getting used to the environment, differentiating from the environment from the United States in California. It was mostly hot throughout the entire year, even if it was autumn, sometimes it would be hot as a oven. The seasons were way different from Japan as well.

"How are things in Japan so far?" Asked Rono's mother, Aiya.

"Great, thanks to both of you." Rono responded.

"Something makes me think that the reason you wanted to move back was to live under your own roof, so you don't have to follow our rules, wasn't it?" Aiya asked.

"No mom! Nothing of a sort! I just felt like spending the rest of my life here, in my home town. That's all." Rono said.

"If you say so. How's school?" She asked the second question.

"Just right, although the English classes here are easy. Now that I speak both Japanese and English. However comparing the English lessons from here to America, they're both way different." Rono informed.

"I'm impressed. You've come a long way Rono, I'm proud of you. Maybe when you get back, you can teach me a bit more English. I still don't feel confident with my English, especially with my accent." Aiya said.

"Sure, I'll be sure to remember."

"How's Sakaki?" She asked.

"Sick." Rono said bluntly.

"What?" Aiya said in disbelief.

"She started feeling ill ever since yesterday. When I was about to go to sleep, she texted me the night before that she had a fever." Rono said.

"That's horrible." Aiya commented.

"I know. I'm planning on visiting her after breakfast. I'm worried to be honest, even though it's just a fever, I'm still worried." Rono said in a concerned tone.

"Well the two of you were always so close to each other ever since little kids, so that's to be expected." Aiya said.

"I guess so. How's dad?" Rono asked.

"Your father's working hard as always." Aiya said.

"Any chance that he got injured during work?"

"Do not worry, still healthy as an ox." Aiya smiled through the phone while thinking of her husband.

"Good to hear, I think I'll have to hang up, mom. I need to see if Sakaki's doing well or not. I'll talk to you soon!" Rono said.

"Bye honey." Aiya said.

"Bye mom." Rono hangs the phone up.

He gets himself ready by putting on his clean clothes, combing his hair, and brushing his teeth. Next, he goes to his kitchen to cook up his first meal of the day. But before he opened up the fridge, Neko-san appeared out of the hallway. Surprising him as she mewed.

"Neko, you're awake!" Rono picked her up and placed her in the cat bed located by the table.

Usually every night, she would sleep by the kitchen where the cat bed was. However, last night she decided that it would be best that she slept on top of the bed where Rono was sleeping. It was the middle of the night when he took notice. He shrugged it off, patted the cat and went back to sleep.

The moment when Neko-san was placed on the cat bed, she walked away and went into Rono's room. She hopped on his bed and curled herself, now falling asleep.

"You sure like sleeping in my bed don't you? I'll leave the food in your tray, in case if you're hungry. I have to leave after I eat breakfast, I need to check on Sakaki due to her illness." He said, informing the cat who was sleeping.

Rono prepared his meal by cooking himself fried eggs, white rice, three sliced sausages, and freshly squeezed lemonade, containing a good source of vitamin C. He doubled the serving size so he could serve himself and give a serving for the ill Sakaki. When finished with his first meal of the day, he left cat food on Neko-san's tray, packed up the food for Sakaki along with the lemonade, and left his apartment to visit Sakaki.

"Achoo!" Sakaki sneezed.

"Bless you Sakaki." Sakaki's mother, Ayano, said.

"Thank you." Sakaki said, grabbing a clean tissue to blow her nose in.

"Tell me, how did you get sick in the first place?" Ayano asked.

"I don't know! All I did was walk home from school with Rono and it just happened!" Sakaki replied, but started coughing after she finished.

"Honestly, you should take care of yourself more. No matter the situation! It should be time for you to eat breakfast now. I'll go downstairs to cook something up for you." Ayano stood up, walking out of the room.

"Thank you." Sakaki said, before taking a nap once again.

Just as things seem to be going well, there was a problem. When Ayano checked the refrigerator, there was barely any food to cook with.

"Oh great, now I have to go to the grocery store." Ayano said.

The doorbell suddenly rang.

"Who could that be? Yuudai?" She said.

She walks to the intercom, presses the button and starts speaking.

"Who is it?"

"Rono Takayama here!" Rono said in his usual cheerful voice.

"Rono! Come right in!" Ayano said, walking out of the front door and opening the gate.

"What are you doing here?" Ayano asked.

"I'm here to check on Sakaki, I also cooked up some food for her."

"You did? You're a lifesaver! I was originally going to cook Sakaki breakfast today but I checked the fridge and barely found out that we had to buy more food!" Ayano said.

"I'm glad to help then! Is Sakaki up in her room?" Rono asked.

"Yup, she's asleep by now. Wear a cough mask before you enter. Do me a favor and watch out for Sakaki while I'm gone at the grocery store alright?" Ayano asked.

"I will!"

"Great, I'll be back shortly." Ayano said before she closed the door. She leaves the building, leaving Rono and Sakaki alone.

By approaching the door where Sakaki was behind, he remembered to put on a cough mask. So he wouldn't catch Sakaki's illness. Rono slowly opened the door to prevent the noise from waking her up. Upon entering, he closed the door slowly and sat down on Sakaki's desk. His eyes focused on his dear friend, who was still in her sleep.

 _I hope she's sleeping well._ He thought, before looking through Sakaki's cat magazines.

 **In Sakaki's dream...↓**

At the start of the dream, she appeared at a park. It looked like it was at least five in the afternoon, judging of how the sun was close to setting to later turn into dusk. There was something strange about her surroundings. Nobody except for one person was there with her. It was a boy who sat on one of the swings, only him. He was playing alone, looking down towards the ground, wondering what he would do next. To Sakaki, he looked very familiar. She walks closer to the little boy, it was then when she realized that the little boy was actually Rono in his child form!

 _Rono!_ Sakaki thought.

Due to her generosity, she sat at the swing beside him. So she could give Rono some company.

"You having fun there?" Sakaki asked to the little Rono.

"No. I have no one to play with." He said in a glum expression.

 _I can see that, it's strange that there are no kids around. Before we met as little kids, he would always play by himself. One of his traits that I found of him was the fact that he would not communicate with other kids socially, from what I saw._ Sakaki thought.

The small boy continued looking down at the sand that he hovered over with the swings. The only time he would talk to kids his age was when they ask him if he was going to get off the swing any time soon. As always, he would say that he was still using it. If there were kids using the swings before him, he would play by himself, trying to avoid the others.

Sakaki thought that it would be best if the younger version of Rono would have fun at least once. She was once placed in a similar situtation like his, knowing how he felt, she didn't want Rono to have the inability to talking with others.

"I sure would use some company by the sand box!" Sakaki said, catching Rono's attention.

"If only there were someone here who could play with me!"

Rono fidgeted, trying to urge of talking.

"It could be anyone!" She said.

Sakaki could obviously notice Rono trying to resist of keeping his answer. His body started shaking between the swings he was on. Sakaki had no choice, but to take matters to her own hands. She stands in front of the little boy and squats down, which soon caught his attention once again.

"Excuse me, would you like to play with me for a little while?" Sakaki asked politely.

Rono couldn't help but to not deny her request, especially after his mother told him to always be polite to girls and to adults.

"O-Okay." He simply said.

"Great, come with me." She said, grabbing his hand.

She leads him to the sand box and let's go his hand when the two stepped in.

"Now, shall we start building a sand castle?" Asked Sakaki.

Rono nods and starts building the castle along with Sakaki at his side. With the bucket for sand castles, he fills it up with sand and places it upside down to form the shape. For the first time, a smile finally formed on his face. Sakaki smiled at the sight and petted Rono's head, causing him to blush.

 _I always wondered, what exactly happened when he was over at America?_ She thought.

As soon as she stepped out of the sand box. She instantly woke up, constantly gasping for air.

 **Dream ends...↑**

"Sakaki!" Rono yelled before he approached her.

"Rono! What are you doing here?" She said.

"I came here to visit. More importantly, are you all right?" He asked in a worried state.

"I'm fine, I just didn't expect I would wake up when I stepped out of the sandbox." She said, massaging the side of her head.

"Sandbox?" Rono questioned.

"Um, forget what I said." Sakaki returned nervously, with a blush of embarrassment on her cheeks.

"Right. Your mother went out for some errands, so she left me in charge of you. I brought food for you!" He smiled when he took the two bentos, and container with lemonade out of his bag.

"How nice of you, thank you." Sakaki simply replied.

He opens up the bento and places it on her lap where the sheets cover her long feminine legs.

"I made fried eggs and lemonade for you as well." He added.

"You remembered that I liked fried eggs!" Sakaki said.

"Duh, why wouldn't I?" He said, taking out a fried egg from the bento with his spare chopsticks and offering it to Sakaki.

"Open wide, say 'Ah~.'" He asked, which embarrassed Sakaki, who then obeyed.

"Ah~." Sakaki opened her mouth, then Rono placed the fried egg in there, ending it up on being eaten.

"Did you make this yourself?" She asked.

"Correct."

"It's delicious!" She complimented.

"Thank you! Now, time for you to eat the rest." Rono said.

"What about you? Haven't you eaten yet?" Sakaki asked.

"I already have, everything here is for you. Enjoy it while it's hot!" Rono smiled.

Sakaki nods and proceeds to eat the home cooked food. It was then in the middle of eating, Sakaki questioned him.

"Rono, you mind if I ask you something?"

"I don't mind, go ahead." He said.

"How were things for you in America? How did you learn the language? How is America different from here?" Asked the curious Sakaki.

"Things for me, I wasn't great when it came to talking to other people. When I first made it to America, I didn't know how to speak English. So the school I attended to got me into a program for foreigners, for people who didn't know how to speak English. Luckily, I was able to learn the language rather quickly. Took only three years, to be specific on the time."

"Was it that easy for you to learn the language?" Sakaki asked.

"Believe me, it wasn't easy. I had to learn the vocabulary, the grammar, and the pronunciation especially! I'm just glad that I was able to pull it off. It was only on my second year of middle school that I finally felt confident with my English."

"But at least you learned a new language in the end." Sakaki said.

"I guess you can say that. Now...differences, huh? The cultures from America and Japan are quite different actually. You don't have entrance exams when you move from elementary to middle school. After we finish lunch, you can either play basketball or soccer before the bell rings. Most schools are indoor, while some are separated into different buildings. One of the cafeteria, a building with classrooms of any subject. If you lived far away from the school, there were school buses that would pick you up from your house and drop you off at school. Lastly, every school has an A/C and heater."

"Lucky! They get to take off their jackets in class during the winter!" Sakaki said.

"Yeah, but I kind of like Japan's school system better. It just sticks to me."

"Understandable." Sakaki said.

All of Sakaki's questions were answered. Now it was Rono's turn to ask the questions.

"Now that you have the answers, you'll have to answer my set of questions. What happened to you when I was gone? How was school for you?" He asked.

"Don't laugh when I answer the first. I-I" She paused before she could answer.

"Cried when you left. You were the one and only friend I had, with the fragile heart I had back then, it was expected. I don't know if you know this or not but, before we became friends, I was bullied because I scared kids that were below my size and I was always alone. After you left, they continued, it was then when I stopped going to the park. School was the same for me before we met, I would always eat by myself, rarely talked to people, and avoided collaborations. It wasn't really anything special, really."

"Sakaki..." Rono paused, he suddenly lunges towards Sakaki, only wrapping his arms around her, ignoring the fact she was sick.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I left you behind, this time I'll keep the promise. I'll never leave you again. From now on, I'll always be by your side! Remember that!" He said while hugging Sakaki tightly.

She smiles as tears of joy drips down her cheeks.

"Thanks, I'll remember." Sakaki said, who returned the hug from her childhood friend.


End file.
